The Steel Soldier
by BearfootTruck
Summary: When world order breaks down, one Soviet tanker gets caught in the middle of the crossfire and is faced with a three-pronged mission: 1. Survive, 2. Destroy the enemy, and 3. Figure out the mystery behind the madness. Rated T for violence, mild language and drug references.
1. The First Tanks

**A/N: This is a repost of a story I did many years ago on the official ****_WoT_**** forum under the name "AlphaAndOmega", inspired by a game called ****_BattleTanx_****. I didn't finish it because by the time I got to the point of nearly being finished, the game was just becoming too frustrating for me. However, having gotten back into it, and having reassessed my attitude towards the game, I decided that people deserve to know how this really ends. If you've been to the official ****_WoT_**** forum before, you've probably read it before, but in any case, here it is again, albeit in its original version. Enjoy!**

**Also, I would like to say that even though I'm not the best player out there, I try. Granted, I make mistakes, but I have fun. What made this game not fun for me in the first place was the fact that I got on a really bad losing streak and got cussed out too often. I'll admit, I used to cuss out people occasionally when I got blown up, but now that I've grown older, I realize that that's not the best way to go about tanking, so I apologize to anybody I provoked. As for those who provoked me...well...I'm staying my tongue.**

* * *

I can't tell you how the wars began...or why they began...or even when or where they began, for that matter.

All I know is that some guy started yelling "DEUTSCHLAND!" and the ball just started rolling downhill from here.

What I can tell you, however, is that they were around before the wars began.

Those iron monsters.

The tanks.

Actually, when they first started coming into play, they weren't monsters.

I remember when I got my first tank.

It was an MS-1, also known as a T-18.

It's not much to look at now, but back then, I didn't know of anything better.

I was just glad to have something protecting me from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

And so I went, into the battlefield.

At first, I wasn't much of a tanker. Sure, I managed to hit the enemy quite often, but more often than not, they hit me.

I don't know how it happened, but the first time my tank blew up, I survived.

Sure, I suffered horrible burns and got bits of molten metal embedded into my skin, but believe me, I made it.

After getting the metal picked out of my skin and recovering from my burns, I was surprised to discover that they'd repaired my tank, too.

No, they didn't just replace it with an identical one. Believe me, I could still smell the odor of burnt metal on this machine.

I also recognized the number given to the tank, too.

And so it went.

Every time I went into battle, I eventually got blown up.

And every time that happened, I survived and they resurrected my tank.

Don't ask me how they did it, though. I doubt that even they would understand.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	2. Moving Up

**A/N: I also forgot to mention, the information contained in this story was correct at the time of update 7.4 or thereabouts. Regardless, gl hf!**

* * *

With each battle, my performance gradually improved.

In fact, it wasn't long before my commanders were so impressed that they gave me a new tank.

A T-26.

Again, it was not like the big, bad battle wagons of today, but it was an improvement over that old MS-1.

Better firepower, better speed, but the armor still left something to be desired.

In fact, I think the first kill that I ever got was when I was driving this machine.

As usual, my tank kept getting blown up, and as usual, both man and machine were fixed up for the next engagement.

However, this tank did make a difference when it came to survival rate. Sure, it was a small difference, but I took whatever I could get.

Eventually, my commanders gave me a new tank again for doing a good job.

This one was a T-46.

Again, the armor wasn't much to speak of, but speed was a noticeable improvement over my old T-26.

One thing that I especially liked about my new tank was the gun: a 76mm L-10 cannon.

For the first time in my tank-driving career, I could do some serious damage to the enemy.

But even that wasn't enough to stop my tank from getting destroyed.

And by now, it was getting to the point where there were some shards of metal that the doctors couldn't remove from my body.

I didn't care too much.

While it did feel like a scar of battle, it also felt like a badge of honor.

It also made me feel more connected to my machine.

While some asked me what had happened, most people didn't seem to care.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	3. Apocalypse How?

All that aside, my tank-driving skills soon got me a T-28.

It was like a giant boat on treads.

I loved the firepower and speed, but I thought the armor was pretty thin for this machine.

By now, the wars had escalated to a new boiling point.

It had gotten to the point where the chain of command had started to break down.

Now, tank crews were shooting at pretty much any tank they spotted.

Often, alliances were forged between groups of tankers.

Americans were working with Germans, Germans were working with Russians – you get the idea.

The most common form of this involved a large group of tankers – more than 10, but I don't recall an exact number – getting together to battle other groups.

However, once they laid waste to whoever was in their crosshairs, these large groups ended up going their separate ways.

It was not uncommon for friends to become enemies, enemies to become friends.

In this new world of tanks, such was the way.

However, within each of these larger groups, you'd find two or three people who decided that they liked each other enough to form little alliances of their own.

These mini-alliances were known as "platoons".

Don't ask me how, but people who joined platoons seemed to have some magic going on between them.

It seemed like they were performing better with each other than without each other.

Despite this magic, platoons too could end up breaking like a poor young lady's heart.

One of the more permanent forms of alliance was the "tank company".

Tank companies were founded by tankers that had a special sort of magic.

Any tanker could join a tank company…as long as they had the right tank, of course.

Oh…and I forgot to mention the right skills.

While some companies would let in the average tanker, other companies only accepted the elite, the "best of the best" if you will.

Furthermore, the tank companies also organized their own duels – company vs. company.

When one company won, they plundered whatever they could from the opposing company.

As good as the tank companies were, even they weren't all permanent.

While the companies generally remained, members came and went as they pleased.

Then – there were the "clans".

The clans were, by far, the largest alliances out of all of these, and the most permanent form.

Nobody knew much about the clans.

In fact, there were those who thought that the clans didn't even exist.

What is generally known about the clans is that they had another goal in mind.

Far from simply trying to destroy whoever got in their way, they wanted to claim as much territory as they could.

Some claimed that this was part of a new world order, while others simply dismissed it as a natural progression of war.

Either way, it was also said that the clans paid quite handsomely, but no one except the clan members knew exactly how much – and they weren't talking.

Now, back to me: I was part of none of these things.

Well…almost.

I did form a platoon with a guy who had a T-26, but he got lost in the commotion.

For the most part, I just had one goal:

Survive.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	4. A New Way of Doing Things

Eventually, I grew sick of my T-28.

Sure, it had good firepower and speed, but armor was lacking, and while I didn't mind the little bits of metal getting embedded in me after each time my tank was destroyed, I didn't want it to get to the point where I became a statue.

I needed a new tank.

But how?

I tried reporting to my commanders, but they were all gone.

They probably went their separate ways and started blasting each other – just like everybody else.

That also meant I had no repair facilities or hospitals to go back to.

The repair facility part was easy to get around.

In a secluded forest, far away from the battlefields, I worked.

I spent countless hours figuring out the ins and outs of my battle machine.

Eventually, I figured out the same secrets that the mechanics had used to bring my other tanks back from the dead.

The hospital part wasn't so easy.

I just tried to stay alive as long as I could.

In the meantime, I had a stroke of luck:

See, prior to the collapse of organized armies, they used to issue tank handbooks to tank crews in my army.

These handbooks contained information on all the armored vehicles that were used by our armed forces, plus those of other armed forces.

The handbooks even had information on known prototype vehicles of other armed forces.

Strangely enough, the books had no information on prototypes from our army.

From what I know, the top brass did this to prevent this information from falling into the wrong hands.

However, there was one problem:

If the book fell into the wrong hands, then they'd end up finding out about prototypes that our allies were developing.

Not that I cared too much.

I knew that the word "ally" was going to be quite meaningless in the future.

Now, why am I telling you about this silly little book?

Well, I had a plan.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	5. The Plan

First of all, I decided to read through the book to see what tanks it contained.

I was looking for something that looked like it would be an improvement over my T-28.

It wasn't long before I found something:

A KV-1.

Second of all, I had to get one.

Easier said than done.

I wasn't too worried, though.

OK, so here's how I did it:

After I caught a break in the action, I just left my T-28 behind & never looked back.

There I was, marching through the countryside, looking for one of those iron monsters.

It was a perilous journey. Every so often, I had to take cover to avoid being detected by enemy tanks and to avoid getting blown up.

However, all my trekking had eventually paid off.

In a forest clearing, I spotted a soldier working on his KV-1.

The tank appeared to be completely stock, but that didn't matter too much to me.

I was just lucky to come across one.

So, I snuck up to the guy, being careful not to get spotted, and without hesitation, I planted a knife right into his ear.

His lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

After removing the knife from his brain, I conducted a quick analysis of the tank.

The tank's controls looked different from the T-28's, but I was convinced that they were similar enough.

Once I made sure that all parts were in place, I decided to test out my newly-acquired battlewagon.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed because it was slower than the other tanks I'd driven (excluding the MS-1).

Also, firepower wasn't as good as I'd hoped for a machine of this caliber.

I mean, I knew these might be problems because I read the handbook, but that didn't make them any less annoying.

Despite these shortcomings, there was one thing that I really loved about this tank:

The armor.

For the first time in my career, I could proudly go out onto the battlefield knowing that I wasn't going to get blown up quickly.

That gave me extra time to blast my opponents.

It also gave me time to plan my next moves.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	6. Goliath

Now that I had a tank that I was truly in love with, I needed to take care of a few things.

First of all, I needed a base of operations.

Well, I didn't really "need" one, but it would help when I needed a place to do repairs & maintenance without getting shot at.

After much searching, I finally found one in an abandoned mine somewhere deep within the mountains.

Second of all, I needed to upgrade my new steed.

Having gained some experience in mechanics & metallurgy, I didn't figure it would be too hard, but there was one question:

Where was I going to get the parts?

So, I did some brainstorming, and after a while, an idea came to me.

On the battlefield, once the gunfire stopped, I searched the bodies of any former Soviet tankers that I came across, hoping to find blueprints of any sort.

I also looked for any useable parts from blown-up tanks.

Little by little, I got blueprints for better parts:

A better suspension.

A V-5 engine.

A 10RK radio.

But the real crown was the new gun setup.

Now, my KV-1 was equipped with a large turret sporting a 152mm M-10 howitzer.

The blueprints designated the new turret as type "KV-2".

For some reason, the blueprints for the cannon contained the inscription "ДЕРП".

What did it mean?

Was it the name of the designer?

That didn't matter much to me.

Finally, after improving my tank, I decided to improve myself.

To do this, I grabbed all the scrap metal I needed and started working away at it.

Eventually, I ended up creating an improvised suit of armor.

The suit consisted of: A face plate for my helmet, augmentations to my SN-42 vest, arm protectors, and leg protectors.

Now, not only did I have a way of protecting myself if my tank got destroyed, I also had a way of feeling connected with my tank.

Besides, I already had enough metal in me, so why not just put some on me?

There was just one thing missing, though.

After a few more minutes, I painted a name for my tank on both sides of the turret:

"Goliath".

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	7. Field Testing

Now, it was time to test my newly-upgraded tank.

I hopped in, fired up that diesel engine and lumbered to the nearest battlefield.

When I got to the fields at Prokhorovka, there was already plenty of action going on.

Within a minute, I saw an M4 Sherman enter my sights.

I carefully took aim, and…

BOOM!

The blast of the gun could be heard a long way off.

That Sherman was gone.

Unfortunately for me, the 152mm cannon took a long time to reload.

"Come on, hurry up and reload!"

About 25 seconds later, a new round was in the chamber.

Next, I spotted a Hetzer.

Again, I took aim and fired at the little pyramid-shaped tank.

Unfortunately, I missed.

It was really annoying to waste all that time reloading after I'd missed.

Even worse, I think the Hetzer spotted me because it fired a round in my direction.

Thankfully, it missed.

Before it could get another round off, I moved to a safer position.

Well…at least I thought it was safe.

Up until I encountered a T-50, that is.

He must've seen me first because my tank took a few hits from out of nowhere.

Thankfully, my tank didn't take too much damage.

However, that little bugger was annoying me.

Worse, the weight of the turret made turret rotation quite slow.

Thankfully, I remembered this one trick from before the Dark Times.

Thinking quickly, I rotated the tank's hull in addition to the turret.

When I had my shot all lined up, I fired and…

BOOM!

The T-50 was a smoldering hulk of scrap metal.

Now, what about that Hetzer?

Noting its last known location, I carefully proceeded over to that general area, making good use of cover.

However, en route to the prey, something unexpected happened:

An errant shot broke one of my tank's tracks.

That damn Hetzer had found me again.

Big mistake.

Now that I knew its location, and with my tank immobilized, it was now or never.

Once again, I brought that big cannon to bear, and…

BOOM!

That deadly pyramid was gone the way of the others.

Having evaded danger, I set to work on the torn track.

With the track repaired as best as I could, I headed back to my mountain hideout, satisfied that the test went well.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	8. Rural Decay

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! I had one crazy Friday last week. Anyways, here's the latest chapter!**

* * *

Now that Goliath was fixed up, I left my hideout once again in search of fresh meat.

When I got to the fields of Malinovka, I found plenty of it.

Here, I encountered a company that called themselves "The Farmer's Brigade".

In a nutshell, it was composed of former kolkhoz farmers who had somehow gotten their hands on tanks.

They didn't appear to be too tough.

After all, they had a lot of MS-1s, T-26s and BTs, plus a few T-46s and one – maybe two – T-28s.

I smiled and rejoiced at the thought of an easy victory.

"Bring it on, my prey!" I shouted.

I targeted the BTs first simply because they attempted to charge me.

For any BTs that managed to avoid me, I simply ran into them, crippling their vehicles.

Most of the shots fired at me bounced off, but there were a few that did quite a bit of damage.

I suspected that the T-28s were the ones that were actually doing damage, so I also gave priority to them.

Like dominoes, they collapsed before me.

One or two of the enemy tanks retreated, but the rest tried to keep firing at me, thinking that they could actually harm me.

I simply pressed on.

When I got to their line, I ran over two of the MS-1s, turning them into heaps of scrap metal.

Their surviving comrades got the idea and started to retreat.

Not all of them made it, though, as my cannon took out a lot of them.

However, thanks to the age-long reload time and the fact that I missed some shots, there were those who got away.

"Once again, victory is mine!" I rejoiced.

I turned around and started my journey back home.

However, a few seconds later, I received a call over my radio:

"Why are you leaving so soon? We're not yet finished with you!"

Shortly after the call came in, I saw one last tank:

Another KV-2, with the slogan "Колхозы, даст нам силы!" (EN: Kolkhozes will give us strength!) painted on each side of the turret.

I assumed that this was the leader of the gang.

However, there was one other difference with his tank:

It was sporting a cannon with a longer barrel.

At that moment, I had a flash in my mind:

I remembered reading something about the Soviet military testing out a new cannon for heavy tanks prior to the fall, but I didn't know what caliber it was at first.

After a little more thinking, I remembered what it was:

A 107mm ZiS-6.

All that aside, I responded to my opponent over the radio:

"Where the hell did you come from and how did you get this frequency!?"

He responded: "That is unimportant. You have done a great deal of damage to our cause, and now it is time for you to pay!"

"Oh yeah!? Well, we'll see about that!"

After finishing our conversation, I took aim at the enemy KV-2 and fired.

BOOM!

The 152mm did significant damage to his tank, but it didn't destroy it.

Now, it was his turn.

He took aim at me with the 107mm and planted a round right in my turret.

It did plenty of damage.

Even worse, the 107mm gun didn't take as long to reload as my 152 did, so he ended up being able to hit me again before I could hit him.

He must have hit me in just the right spot, because my engine bay caught fire.

Luckily, I had a working fire extinguisher in my tank, so in an act of quick thinking, I doused the flames.

By that time, I had another round in the chamber, so I took aim and fired at him.

While that round didn't end up destroying his tank, it did shatter his track.

However, I wasn't out of harm's way just yet.

His next shot missed me, but the shot that came afterwards went right through my hull, nearly missing me.

At this point, I knew my tank was only one more shot away from being destroyed, so I had to act quickly.

Having moved to a new position, I took aim once again and fired at him.

BOOM!

That did it! His tank was now a smoldering wreck.

I was so proud of myself for defeating my first tank company.

However, there still the problem of getting home.

Ever so carefully, I drove home, trying to stay off the main roads.

At one point, I could've sworn that a Panzer IV saw me, but it never stopped, nor did it come back to chase me, so I kept driving.

I made it back to my hideout and conducted the necessary repairs and maintenance for Goliath.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	9. A New Foe Has Appeared

For the next few days, I was having quite a time out on the battlefield.

Everywhere I went, I left a number of charred wrecks that were once tanks.

One day, I got another surprise:

Back at Prokhorovka, I sighted an unknown light tank that was painted bluish-gray with a target-like logo on it.

Since it attempted to fire upon me, failing to do any damage in the process, I simply took aim and tore it to shreds.

I wanted to conduct a more thorough study of it, but there was just too much action going on, so I kept on battling.

During the battle, I was also charged by three more unknown light tanks.

These were painted in Soviet colors, but I never saw anything like them in my handbook before.

Regardless, I took aim and fired at the trio.

BOOM!

Two of them were destroyed in the blast, but one of them merely had its tracks broken.

Almost immediately, its crew jumped out to repair the tracks.

I didn't feel like using my cannon, and I wanted that thing alive, so I used the hull-mounted DT machine gun to fire upon the tankers.

Once they were eliminated, I continued with the battle until the action subsided.

When everything got quiet, I pulled up to the first mystery tank (or what was left of it) and searched the vehicle.

On one of the crewmen's bodies, I found what appeared to be a tank handbook similar to mine.

I could barely read it, but I recognized the language as French.

That's when I realized that the tank itself was French.

Looking through his handbook, I was able to identify the tank as a Renault FT-17.

If I also read correctly, this design dated back to World War I.

No wonder I defeated it so easily.

Afterwards, I investigated the mystery Soviet tank.

The handbook I picked up identified it as a "Mk VII Tetrarch"

Oddly enough, the description for this tank stated that its country of origin was Great Britain.

Now, why was our army using British tanks?

I thought I'd heard something about this before, but I just couldn't remember at this moment.

Rather than waste my time trying to figure it out, I went to inspect the rest of the tank.

Inside, it was very different even from my T-26 and T-46.

Furthermore, there was a strange cylindrical device inside the turret that I had never seen before.

After a brief inspection, I pressed a button and out popped a perfect 10-ruble note.

Why did this tank have such a device when none of the other tanks I once drove had one? Was it some new type of reward system?

Whatever the case may be, I went back home to do another round of repair and maintenance.

With each successive battle, I encountered more French tanks.

Initially, they were not too challenging, being quite slow and unable to damage Goliath.

Well, a couple of Char B1s did some damage, but not too much.

However, a few weeks later, I got some more surprises:

My first surprise came in the form of what I identified as a BDR G1B.

This one had a cannon that could actually do significant damage to Goliath.

However, it still had weak armor, so it took me only one shot to dispatch it.

The other surprise wasn't so easy to get rid of.

This was the AMX-12t.

Not only could its cannon damage me, but it had plenty of speed to match.

Still, it gave me some practice with moving targets.

And of course, when all else failed, ramming always worked!

Nevertheless, these new tanks shaped the course of the war.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	10. Her

I continued my warpath, just me and Goliath, tearing up those who got in our way.

I had a particularly intense confrontation in the fields of Redshire.

There were tanks attacking me from all angles, some of whom I couldn't see.

Of course, I kept a cool head, destroyed whoever I could see, searched out who I could and destroyed them.

My mission complete, I decided to head back to my secret hideout for the usual round of repairs and maintenance.

However, Redshire was the farthest I'd ever been from my hideout, so it took quite a while.

I stopped to have a rest.

Out here in the field, I could only afford to rest a couple of hours at most.

Of course, it wasn't much better at my hideout, so I couldn't be choosy.

During my nap, I dreamt of the same things I dreamt of most every night.

I dreamed that I had a better life and that the world had been spared from this breakdown of order that came out of nowhere.

As satisfying as it was to lay waste to enemy tanks with my 152mm cannon, I had some mental fatigue from having to fight for my own survival.

Still, I was willing to keep going if it meant that there was some sort of end to all this.

When I woke up from my nap, it had only been a few seconds before I got another surprise.

Then again, given the state of affairs in the world, I guess surprises were the norm.

But if they were the norm, then they wouldn't really be surprises, now, would they?

Philosophical ramblings aside, this surprise was different.

It was a woman running over to me.

She was quite beautiful; she had brown hair and brown eyes.

She also looked quite exhausted, as if she'd traveled a great distance to meet me.

When she got over to me, she asked, "Excuse me…but are you the one who saved me from those other tanks back there?"

I replied, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

"But you must be! That name on your tank, 'Goliath'…there's no mistaking it!"

"OK, so I am. What do you want from me?"

"I…I wanted to thank you for saving my life!"

"Well…OK. Sounds good, I guess."

Then, without further ado, she gave me a hug. I half-heartedly reciprocated.

The hug didn't last long, however, before she pulled back. Was it because the touch of steel felt too cold to her?

In any case, she introduced herself, "My name is Mia. What's yours?"

I replied, "My name is unimportant."

"B…but don't you have a name? What about Goliath? It's written on your tank!"

"Lady, that's just the tank's name. My real name matters to no one."

"H…how can you be so cold? You saved my life, and I am grateful to you for this! I'd feel more comfortable knowing who my knight in shining armor is!"

I didn't respond to that one.

She added, "Could you take that armor off? I want to see the face of the one who saved me!"

I just said, "I remove my armor for no mortal."

She replied, "Well…can I at least come with you? We could go somewhere far away!"

I replied, "I'm sorry, but you can't. It's too dangerous!"

"But don't you want to escape all of this?"

"I really can't do this. It's for your own good."

"Please let me come along!"

"No, I can't! You must get out of here!"

"Please?"

"No! This is my final word! It's for your own good!"

"But…"

"Go! NOW!"

Without further questions, Mia simply nodded and ran away to an unknown destination.

On the outside, I didn't really care about her. She probably would've weighed me down, anyways.

Of course, as I also mentioned, she would have been killed if Goliath were blown up.

However, deep down inside, I felt pretty sorry for what I had done.

What if she was right? What if there was a faraway land that we could escape to in order to get away from this madness?

What if she really was my ticket out of this life?

Worse, what if I had sent her to her grave by sending her away?

I tried not to think about it so much, though these thoughts often intruded on my thought process.

Also, for some reason, I could feel some form of magic coursing through my veins.

I actually felt like I had something more to die for.

With each battle, I could feel my skills improving faster than usual.

I also obtained more loot from destroyed tanks for some reason.

Was this the same sort of magic that tank company commanders possessed?

Who knows?

Eventually, the fire died down, but the memories lingered.

I never did find anyone else like Mia.

I figured that everyone else was either dead or driving a tank.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	11. Blitzkrieg Again

As usual, I headed out in search of more prey.

Driving through the city of Ensk, I found a Panzer IV charging towards me.

For some reason, I recognized it as the same one that I saw driving by me after my battle with the Farmers' Brigade.

Don't ask me how; I just knew.

I suppose it's part of a tanker's intuition.

Intuition or not, I didn't sit around asking questions; I just blew it away.

There was more where he came from, though, and I found this out when I got another transmission:

"It is useless to resist us, you Soviet bastard! We have you surrounded!"

For a brief moment, I wondered how my foes were transmitting on my frequency.

Were they checking all the frequencies? Did they just happen to share the same frequency as me?

In any case, they were right.

Shortly after I received the transmission, I found myself face-to-face with a Panzer III and an M4 Sherman.

It was then that I realized I was facing "The Blitzkrieg Boys".

The Boys were a company that primarily had German tanks, but also had plenty of American tanks.

They were better-equipped than the Farmers' Brigade, as their company had tanks such as Panzer IIIs, Panzer IVs, M4 Shermans, M3 Stuarts, Panzer 35(t)s, Panzer 38(t)s and other tanks around this level.

For some reason, a number of the American tanks sported an unusual flag: This flag had a diagonal blue cross on a red background with white stars adorning the cross.

I was no expert on American flags, so I didn't recognize it.

I didn't care to recognize it, either.

I only cared to blow it up.

However, true to their name, the Blitzkrieg Boys were quick attackers, and combined with the slow reload time on the 152, made for an intense confrontation.

To compensate, I used the old ramming trick.

It wasn't always easy, considering the speed of some of their tanks.

However, I soon began to thin their ranks, but it was taking a toll on Goliath.

As their ranks began to thin out, I saw a few French tanks working for them.

Unlike normal French tanks, though, these had a red, white and blue "axe" logo in place of the normal "target" logo I'd seen on French tanks.

One of these tanks was even painted "German Gray".

All very interesting, but being interested in some tank isn't going to blow it up, so I just kept on fighting.

The last tank I encountered was a Leichttraktor.

I simply laughed at him and ran him over.

"Yes! Now to head home!"

However, just when I was heading home…

BOOM!

There was an explosion that came out of nowhere.

I started searching the city, looking for any rogue tanks that I'd missed.

Still, the explosions kept coming.

Most of them missed, hitting buildings instead.

However, a few of them came dangerously close to me.

Since the city was empty, I decided to check the field next to the city.

A couple of minutes later, I came across a self-propelled artillery gun, a Sturmpanzer I "Bison", to be exact.

The way he'd been shooting me, it was almost like he had some sort of "sixth sense".

I started to take aim at it, but he caught sight of me first and opened fire…

BOOM!

For the first time, Goliath had been destroyed.

The SPG started to drive away, thinking that I was dead.

Thankfully, that armored suit that I had built for myself had saved me from major injury.

When I was sure that the Bison was looking away, I jumped out of my tank's burning shell and got an anti-tank grenade ready.

I aimed as best I could, threw the grenade and…

BOOM!

The Bison was destroyed!

Alas, because my tank was destroyed, I could not return home.

Now, it was time to survive.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	12. Survival

**A/N: If you're wondering why this update is a bit delayed, it's because I've been on vacation the past week. Even so, here it is!**

* * *

On the downside, because I was far away from home, I lacked access to a full-fledged repair facility.

On the upside, though, my repair and metallurgy skills were sufficiently advanced that I could carry out enough repairs in the field to get Goliath going again.

Problem is, I didn't know how long it was going to be before any more tanks arrived, so I had to stay alert.

So, I got to work immediately.

To carry out my repairs, I took some scrap metal and other useable parts from the other blown up tanks.

It wasn't easy to find parts that fit well, but I managed to get the stuff I needed.

To reduce the chances of being spotted, I assembled an ersatz tent and spread branches & leaves over it as camouflage.

Repairs were going well, but during the repairs, I heard what sounded like an engine in the distance.

I left my tent, looked around, and it wasn't long before I spotted another Panzer IV.

"You're mine, you fool!"

I hid in some nearby bushes, and when the timing was right, I jumped on the tank and ripped open the driver's hatch.

I drew my Tokarev pistol and killed the driver.

Next, I ripped open the turret hatch and killed the commander, loader and gunner.

The radio operator wasn't so easy to kill, because when he heard the first shot, he must've hidden somewhere.

I was surprised when he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the turret.

I dropped my gun upon hitting the floor.

He attempted to grab my gun, but I pushed him away and got back on my feet.

Ordinarily, all that steel would've just weighed me down, but I was used to the weight of it all by now.

In fact, I think I may be getting to that point where I move around better when I'm wearing my armor than when I'm not.

Regardless, I grabbed the radio operator and started slamming his head against the turret wall.

When he was unconscious, I picked my gun back up and took command of the tank.

I spotted additional tanks coming my way, so I got ready to fight.

While I tried to eliminate all enemy tanks in the vicinity, I also tried to stay within range of Goliath.

Unfortunately, this tank was quite a shock to me after driving the KV series tanks for so long.

Because its armor and firepower were not so good, I was forced to be crafty.

Also, the controls weren't the same, which, compounded by the fact that all the labels were in German, made things difficult for me.

Sure, I knew quite a bit of German, but some things were still not understandable.

Luckily, this specimen had a few things going for it.

For one, it was faster than Goliath was.

Also, the gun was more accurate.

Speaking of the gun, it was a 75mm cannon, a KwK 40 if I'm correct.

Good enough for me.

It should have been good enough, because I detected a mix of American, German, French and Russian tanks emerging from the forest.

However, they didn't appear to be grouped up as a tank company.

True, members of the same tank company often split up and mixed in with the unwashed masses for a number of battles, and it did happen that company men might end up battling their fellow company men.

However, I got the feeling that most of these folks were your average, run-of-the-mill tankers.

Easy pickings.

First, I moved to a new position, hoping to stay out of sight.

Next, I pointed the Panzer's cannon at a Sherman tank and opened fire.

BOOM!

The shot didn't kill the Sherman, but it did set it on fire, which did end up destroying the tank.

I fell back to another new position, hoping to avoid the wrath of the group.

Most of them proceeded through the city, hoping to eliminate their opponents.

However, one T-34 broke off and started pursuing me, thinking that I was an enemy tank.

Well, I was an enemy, but not necessarily the one he was looking for.

With a fresh round in the chamber, I pointed the cannon right at the driver's compartment and fired.

BOOM!

The tank stopped, its driver apparently dead.

In the meantime, the tank took a shot at me, which missed.

It got going again, but its movement was slowed and somewhat jerky.

I suspected that another crewman had been ordered to fill the driver's seat.

Regardless, I aimed the gun at the turret this time and fired.

BOOM!

The round didn't appear to penetrate, but there was plenty of smoke and flames emanating from the tank.

For some reason, the surviving crewmen decided to abandon the tank and flee.

Before the Dark Times, they would have been shot in accordance with Order No. 227

This was different.

Without policy – without formal commanders – they could do what they liked.

Rather than killing them, I let them flee.

The way I figured it, they were dead anyways.

As for their comrades, they were deep within the city of Ensk.

Judging by all the guns going off, I was right – they had found an enemy.

Rather than joining the fray, though, I used this break in the action to get back to Goliath.

When I heard the cannons subsiding, I stopped what I was doing and got back to the Panzer.

I picked a position in a nearby railyard to hole up and await survivors.

Judging by the direction that a T2 medium tank and an AMX-40 were coming from, it appeared that the opposing forces had won the day.

"Appeared" being a relative word.

Without question, I fired at the T2.

BOOM!

The T2 was no more.

Naturally, the AMX spotted me and attempted to fire upon me.

That shot bounced off, but when I fired upon the AMX, mine bounced off as well.

I cursed at myself.

I was so used to the firepower of the 75mm cannon that I expected it would be more than a match for this machine.

Our next volley of shots bounced as well.

Then, I remembered another trick from before the Dark Times:

When in doubt, aim for the flat parts.

I located one on the front of the AMX, fired, and…

BOOM!

That's the last of them!

Or…so I thought.

Coming back to Goliath, I felt a round strike the Panzer from an unknown position.

Checking the general area, I chanced upon an SU-76 tank destroyer.

The next round struck my gun mantlet, missing the ammo rack by a few centimeters.

In the end, though, the Panzer proved its superiority, reducing the SU-76 to scrap metal.

Now that the field was clear, I returned to where Goliath was located and finished up my makeshift repairs.

There was just one more issue to solve:

I attached one of my anti-tank grenades to the ammo rack of the Panzer, pulled the pin and got away as far as I could.

BOOM!

The tank went up in flames.

I was a little sad that I had to destroy it. After all, it did prove its worth when I needed a temporary tank and it was interesting to drive.

However, I had to make sure that no one else could get their hands on it and potentially do harm to Goliath.

Speaking of Goliath, I took down that tent, hopped in and drove it home safely, where I could give it some proper repairs.

The T-34?

I left it alone.

After all, who's going to take such a crippled tank?

As for me, I decided to spend a little time studying German and French.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	13. The Legacy of 24601

Another day, another journey into the wilderness, looking for someone to challenge.

In Westfield, I found that challenge.

Here, I came upon a gang calling themselves "Les Fils du Jean Valjean"*.

They were an all-French gang, with a healthy mix of light, medium and heavy tanks such as Char B1s, AMX-12ts, D2s, AMX-40s, plus a couple of tanks that I didn't recognize.

One of these was a tank that looked similar to the AMX-12t, but with a different gun attached to it.

The other was a heavy tank with a gigantic box-shaped turret on it.

Given the nature of French tanks, they weren't too challenging.

However, they still presented a few challenges:

First of all, the speed of the AMX-12t and its lookalike made it challenging to aim, so I was forced to ram them in case I missed.

Second of all, the new heavy tank that I had encountered possessed decent armor, so my 152mm cannon didn't always kill it in one hit, unlike the B1 or the BDR G1B.

And finally, no matter how many of these guys I killed, it felt like they kept coming.

All in all, I was forced to take a stealthier approach rather than outright charging into battle.

Worse yet, my tank was running low on ammo.

Thankfully for me, their ranks were beginning to thin out.

They tried one final push at me with a couple of AMX-12ts.

Unfortunately, my cannon was all out of ammo by now, so what could I do?

I rammed one of the 12-tons, putting it out of action.

An anti-tank grenade did severe damage to another one of them, possibly killing the crew as well.

Using one of the destroyed 12-tons as a platform, I jumped onto a third one, opened the hatch and killed all the crew members with my Tokarev.

A fourth one had showed up to give assistance, but when the crew witnessed what I had done to the third tank, they stopped and jumped out of their tank.

"Monsieur, please do not shoot," one of the crewmen begged, "We will do whatever you wish!"

I told them, "Go on, get out of here before I kill you!"

"Not so fast, mes frères!" exclaimed their commander, who emerged from the tank.

The crew halted.

"Don't listen to him!" I commanded. "He is making a foolish mistake!"

"No!" retorted the commander, "For too long, our country has been enslaved by foreign invaders! We have come too far to be defeated by cette chienne communiste! We must kill him and then we will not be slaves again!"

"Then, you will die!"

"I am willing to take that chance!"

"So be it!"

For some reason, rather than getting back in the tank, the commander charged at me and attempted to kill me with his sidearm.

I put a bullet right between his eyes.

The other crewmen just stood there, too scared to do anything.

Without further hesitation, they ran over the hills to an unknown location.

They ran so fast, it was as if they had been trained for this kind of thing.

With the job done, I searched the third 12-ton, hoping to find a clue about the mystery tanks I saw.

Taking a handbook from one of the dead crewmen, I read through it to see if I could find any information on these tanks.

I was in luck; I was able to identify both tanks.

The AMX-12t lookalike was called an AMX-13/75.

Judging by the specs, it had improved speed and firepower over the 12-ton.

The new heavy tank was called an ARL-44.

Obviously, it was an improvement over the BDR G1B when it came to firepower and armor.

I didn't need a silly little book to tell me that.

Before I went home, I hopped in the empty 13/75 and decided to use that third 12t as target practice.

Just when I thought the Panzer IV was odd, this one made it look fairly normal.

Nevertheless, I got a decent grasp of the controls.

I was also pleasantly surprised by one feature on the gun:

Every time I fired a shot, a cylinder loaded a new round into the chamber within seconds.

By the time the cylinder was emptied, the 12-ton was toast.

After I attached a live anti-tank grenade to the 13/75's ammo rack, it too was toast.

Oh, and speaking of the book, I'd like to share an interesting discovery I made about that book:

See, the book claimed that the French had a tank called a "SOMUA S35", but I never saw one on the battlefield.

Actually, I did see one…once.

Only it was painted in German Gray.

Quite strange…

* * *

*(EN: "The Sons of Jean Valjean")

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	14. Hide and Seek

I forgot to tell you that I was also skilled with making gunpowder in addition to metallurgy.

Of course, the powder quality wasn't as good as the stuff that came from the factory, but it worked, and the powder quality was improving by now.

When even that was not enough, I checked any hidden ammo dumps that I came across for 152mm shells.

These were hard to find "in the wild", but I managed to come across them, nevertheless.

Once I loaded up Goliath, I set off on another adventure.

This time, my trip took me to the Ural Mountains.

Everything looked okay, but I knew that something might be off.

While I was driving, I found myself under fire from enemy tanks I couldn't even see.

This was the worst possible thing that could ever happen on the battlefield.

Even worse, I kept receiving radio messages from nowhere, probably from those hidden tanks.

They said stuff like, "You cannot beat us!" "We are everywhere!" "We see all!"

I just tried to keep driving, hoping that the enemy wouldn't hit me.

When one shot broke one of my tracks, I got so angry that I just fired in the direction that the shot came from.

Luckily, a shower of sparks shot out of the bushes, which meant I hit something.

I was so relieved to actually hit one of them, my head cleared up.

After I jumped out and fixed my busted track, I formulated a new plan:

Rather than drive around blindly and hope to avoid their fire, I drove cautiously.

When somebody started firing at me, I just fell back and tried to determine what direction they were firing from.

When the firing stopped, I edged out until the firing began again.

Just like before, I determined the direction that the shots came from and fired in that direction.

It was a risky maneuver, especially considering that my 152mm cannon was not very accurate at longer ranges.

However, considering that I wasn't in a hectic, fast-paced battle, my cannon was always loaded by the time I encountered an enemy.

Also, my shots seemed to hit most of the time.

Speaking of shots, while searching for all these guys, I happened to catch a StuG III unaware.

One more easy kill for me.

However, the battle didn't feel so easy near the end.

I was running low on ammo, so I had to play it carefully.

Worse yet, Goliath was getting worn out.

Even so, both of us won the day yet again.

We weren't done yet, though.

I had to investigate these guys.

The way they fought, it was as if they really knew what they were doing.

I drove to every one of the blown-up vehicles and searched the crewmen for any forms of identification.

After conducting my examination, I determined that these guys were part of a company called "The Armored Shadows".

The Shadows were composed of members of the American OSS, the German Abwehr and my country's own GRU.

These were the kinds of guys who just showed up out of nowhere, did their job and just disappeared without a trace.

Well…until now, that is.

Because they were more interested in being hidden from the enemy rather than flattening them with massive firepower, they mostly drove light and medium tanks, plus a few tank destroyers and occasional SPGs for long-range support.

Their most advanced tanks were up-armored versions of the M4A3 Sherman known as the M4A3E2 & M4A3E8, two different versions of the VK 3001 and a version of the T-34 with an 85mm gun.

None of their tanks were less advanced than what was known as "Tier Four".

See, a little while after tanks were invented – around the same time that I got my T-26 – it became common practice among tank manufacturers and tank divisions to use "tiers" to signify various levels of technological development.

The first tanks (e.g. FT-17, MS-1) were called the "Tier One" tanks.

My old T-26 was classified as a "Tier Two" tank.

Goliath is classified as a "Tier Five" tank, though it sure as hell doesn't feel like one.

Given the massive firepower and armor, I think that the Soviets were planning to re-classify the KV-2 in a higher tier prior to the Dark Times.

Aside from their group affiliations, what I found most interesting was a mysterious letter that I found on the commander of a VK 3001, which, strangely enough, was in English:

"Agent 412:

It has come to our attention that your company is experiencing difficulties in the Eastern Territories. This geographic sector is of utmost importance to our cause. If you cannot push further or even maintain your control in this sector, then I am afraid that I shall have no choice but to remove you from our clan and notify all operatives in this area of your grievous failure.

Remember, the rewards for success are great. Do not disappoint us.

-With regards,

W.G."

Clan?

Wow, these guys are really serious!

I was awed by the realization that I may have seriously disrupted something that was part of a larger operation.

I was also very curious about the whole thing:

What clan did these guys belong to?

What is their overall cause?

And who is W.G.?

With a head full of questions, I headed back to my hideout and decided to store this letter in a safe place.

I really should get a safe.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	15. Wait, Who's Coming?

With each battle, I collected more handbooks from fallen tankers.

However, I was having problems storing them all.

Worse, they weren't exactly centralized.

So, in an effort to centralize them, I just created a handbook of my own, writing down all known information about each tank I found, using material from all the handbooks.

It took me a while, but I eventually finished my new handbook and discarded most of the ones that I had collected.

Also, to make things easier for myself, I left plenty of room for expansion should I come across any new tanks.

Having done that, I set out on another trip, this time, to the Steppes.

Here, I encountered a company calling themselves "Les Internationalistes".

They were mainly a Soviet company, but they also had a good number of Frenchmen in their ranks.

They believed that Communism had taken a wrong turn under Stalin's rule and wanted to return to the old Marxist-Leninist style of communism and in the process of doing so, to form an international brotherhood with all men.

As a means of carrying out this goal, their company included KVs (both KV-1 and KV-2s, none of which had the same cannon as mine), T-34s (76mm and 85mm variants), ARL-44s, AMX-12ts, SU-85s, plus a few more tanks that weren't familiar to me.

At the start of the battle, I took a brief look at the battlefield.

It didn't take me long to figure out that simply going straight across was suicide, so I opted for another approach.

To my west, there were some rock formations sticking out of the ground that looked like they would provide good cover, so I chose to go there.

At another rock formation just north of it, there was a T-34-76, an AMX-12t and an unidentified light tank in Soviet colors waiting for me.

I knew that the AMX had a powerful cannon, so I fired at it first.

BOOM!

That tank was now just a pile of burnt metal.

I backed off, when suddenly, an AMX 13/75 snuck up behind me and put a round into my turret.

Luckily, Goliath was still okay, so I tossed an anti-tank grenade at the AMX while I was waiting for the cannon to reload.

The AMX wasn't killed, but it was set on fire, which did destroy it.

When my cannon reloaded, I poked out around the corner to find that the T-34 was coming towards me.

The 152mm cannon showed him the error of his action.

As for that mystery tank, I wanted it alive, so I simply charged towards it, his shells bouncing off of Goliath.

He tried to back away, but he backed into a rock formation.

Perfect.

I jumped out of Goliath and hopped onto the mystery tank.

Just as I had done before, I opened the hatches and blew away all the crew members with my Tokarev.

However, I had a battle to attend to, so I quickly got back to Goliath and continued the carnage.

I got back just in time to see another T-34 bearing down on me, with an ARL-44 in tow.

I backed away around the corner, but not before the ARL-44 scraped my tank with one of its rounds.

Goliath was hurt, but not too badly.

I waited a few more seconds before deciding to come back out.

For some reason, the T-34-85 was gone, but the ARL-44 remained.

Almost immediately, I worried that the T-34 would be attempting a sneak attack.

The ARL fired again, but luckily, he missed.

I didn't.

His tank was severely damaged, but still alive.

I knew it was risky, but I just felt like charging after the wounded ARL.

For some reason, though, while I was charging it, it didn't fire back.

I wondered: Was their gunner killed? Did their gun jam?

I didn't stop to ponder all that. Rather, I just gave the enemy tank a nice, hearty ram, which knocked it out for the remainder of the battle.

I turned around just in time to find the T-34 I was looking for.

The T-34 fired at me, but the shot bounced.

Mine didn't.

Now that both T-34s were junked, I needed to find the other tanks.

I passed through the second rock formation and surveyed the area.

Nothing.

I was a little hesitant to go any further because they may have set up a trap, so I turned around and headed for the eastern flank.

On my way there, I ran into an AMX-40 plus another one of those unrecognizable Soviet tanks.

This one was different.

While its hull was unrecognizable, the turret bore a resemblance to the T-28's cylindrical turret.

I killed the AMX-40, but the other tank was not so easy to take on.

This one did quite a bit of damage to Goliath, so I had to dodge him.

I wanted it alive, but I felt that capturing it posed a significant risk, so I simply torched it.

Moving on, I encountered yet another odd tank painted in our colors.

This one had a long, rectangular hull with a somewhat small turret.

Its first shot bounced, but in short order, it was able to fire off another round, which did some damage.

I decided that this thing was also a danger to Goliath, so another 152mm round made sure that it would no longer endanger my tank.

However, shortly after I blasted this thing, I encountered a KV-1.

This one appeared to be stock, and the 76mm round that bounced off of my turret only confirmed that.

However, I wasn't taking any more chances, so I fell back to cover while I waited for the 152 to reload.

By the time it did that, the enemy KV-1 was nearly on to me.

I drove up to it, and at point-blank range, I blew a large hole through it.

Around this time, another KV-1, this one with a longer 76mm cannon, had showed up to take me on.

However, seeing what I had done to his comrade, he simply turned and fled.

While he was fleeing, though, another tank shot and killed that one.

Wait…did I just witness that tank being killed by its own friend?

Funny, I didn't think these guys were fond of Order No. 227

As I investigated the source of the shot, I saw a KV-2 with a 107mm ZiS-6.

Remembering my last encounter with one at Malinovka, I took it slowly this time.

Unfortunately, at that range, my 152mm missed, so I ducked back behind the rocks and attempted to go around the other way.

When I got to the other side, I just waited some more seconds until the gun was reloaded, and then I drove out until I could see that KV-2.

Luckily, he was not pointing his gun in my direction, so I gave him another shot.

BOOM!

He wasn't destroyed, but his tank appeared to have taken heavy damage, and his track was broken.

I took this opportunity to go back around to the other side.

With my gun loaded, I went to take him on again, but he spotted me and opened fire.

He only grazed my turret, so I returned fire and…

BOOM!

That was easier than my last engagement!

Moving on to the north side, I could only see two tanks taking up defense: An SU-85 tank destroyer, plus a KV-1 with an odd turret that resembled that of the T-34-85.

I took out the SU-85 first, then let the KV-1 come to me.

When it got closer, I opened fire…

BOOM!

I actually felt somewhat disappointed by that kill.

I mean, I once hit a KV-1 using my 152mm cannon back at Redshire, yet that one survived the hit.

What was wrong with this one?

Of course, rather than ask questions, I pressed forward.

Soon, I encountered what I thought was another KV, but this one was even weirder:

It had a lengthened chassis, a conical turret and a long-barreled cannon that might have been a 107mm.

I got another radio call:

"You dumb Stalinist, you have stifled our cause long enough! I'll teach you a lesson about soiling the glory of Communism!"

I retorted: "Hey, I'm no Stalinist, but prepare to die just the same!"

"We will see about that!"

With a fresh round in the chamber, I fired at him.

Less than a second after I had hit him, he fired a round that missed me by a few centimeters.

My guess is that I shook his aim when I hit him.

I didn't want to find out what he could do to me, so I retreated to another rock formation.

His next round hit my track just before I got into cover, but didn't break it.

When the next round entered my chamber, I decided to let him come to me.

I heard him sneaking up behind me, so I tried to go around and get him in the back.

However, he too must've seen that trick because he went to back up when I went forward.

I tried backing away from him, but he followed my movements too well.

To stop him, I fired a round at his rear end, breaking his track.

Unfortunately, with the long reload time on the 152mm M-10, that meant he had plenty of time for a steady shot.

His next one hit me, and bad.

It was now or never.

When my cannon was loaded, I wasted no time in pointing it in his direction, and…

BOOM!

He was gone.

As usual, I took a couple of handbooks and checked the mystery tanks out.

The light tank that I kept intact was called a Valentine, a British-made tank with a 45mm cannon.

Like the Tetrarch, it also had one of those money printers one the inside of its turret.

The unknown medium tank with the T-28 type turret was a Matilda, also British in origin.

Curiously, it had a 76mm gun of Soviet design.

The rectangular-hulled heavy tank was also a British design, this one called a Churchill.

Though the Matilda and Churchill were destroyed, I also found that they had money printers inside the turrets.

Now, about those other heavy tanks.

The KV with the unusual turret was a KV-1S, also known as a KV-85, but it could mount other kinds of guns.

This one had thinner armor than usual, which must've explained why I killed it in one hit.

The KV with the longer chassis + conical turret was known as a KV-3.

The handbook said that it took a ZiS-6 as the gun, but that it could also be equipped with a 100mm D-10T or a 122mm D-2-5-T

Both of those sounded nasty.

I headed home, but as I headed home, I realized something about the British tanks:

There was once a program called the Lend-Lease Program where the Americans & British gave us some of their equipment.

That could only mean one other thing:

The British are coming.

But when?

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	16. Safe Keeping

After extensive repairs and maintenance, Goliath was ready to go once again.

For some strange reason, though, I felt compelled to go back to Malinovka.

Don't ask me why.

All I know is that some strange force was calling me back there.

When I got there, I encountered a team driving a variety of tanks: M4 Shermans, Panzer IIIs, AMX-40s, T-34s, etc…

Nothing I hadn't seen before.

These guys weren't even part of a company.

Just some unwashed masses with no aim except to blow up whosoever should cross them.

Considering how tough the last battle was, I needed some easy pickings.

However, I knew that these guys were more dangerous than the Farmers' Brigade, so rather than taking them head-on, I chose to go up the hill and flank them.

Unfortunately, Goliath's speed was greatly reduced uphill, and I was afraid that if I pushed it any harder, then its engine would blow up.

Still, it was faster than my MS-1 would've gone.

Going uphill, I discovered that a T-34 had the same idea as me.

Naturally, I took aim and…

BOOM!

He was history.

Going downhill, I had the advantage of heavy weight, so while I was waiting for the gun to be reloaded, I used Goliath's weight to smash an M4 Sherman.

While I was flanking, I noticed that in the field, a few other tanks had come to join the battle.

Like my current foes, they too had no company affiliations, or if they did, then I couldn't tell by their tanks or their tank operating skill.

For the most part, it appeared that my opponents had chosen to focus on the main battlefield.

Another exception to this was a Panzer III.

He fired, but only did minimal damage.

I, on the other hand, did critical damage, putting another tank out of commission.

Rather than try to take on my opponents after flanking them, I decided to hide in the foliage, waiting as their ranks thinned out.

When their numbers began to lessen, I opened fire & took out another tank.

The strain of coping with two different foes took its toll on this team, and naturally, they were defeated.

I drove over to inspect my kills, when I noticed something:

In a destroyed house on their side of the field, there was a container of some sort.

When I got out of my tank for a closer look, it turned out to be a safe.

It wasn't a big safe, but it was just large enough for what I needed it for.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that I had increased strength from wearing armor all the time, and despite the fact that I could lift it over my head, I couldn't fit it in the turret, so I ended up just tying it down on the back of Goliath.

Just as I was about to leave, a T-34-85 from the other team showed up.

The tank stopped and the commander got out.

"Hey comrade, that was some nice work you did there!" he said.

"Thanks," I responded.

"How would you like to join us? We could do some great things together!"

"I'd love to, but I really must be moving on."

"Well, that's unfortunate, but if you insist, then I understand."

The commander was about to get back into his tank when I stopped him…

"Wait! Before you go, I want you to have something!"

"Yes?"

"Here, take my card!"

I handed him a playing card with the Ace of Diamonds on it.

Don't ask where I got it; even I've forgotten why I've been carrying it around.

The commander must've had a sense of humor, because he laughed at it and told me, "Very nice, comrade!"

I replied, "I'm glad you enjoy it. See you later, and I hope you won't forget me!"

"It's no problem! It was nice to fight alongside you!"

With that, we parted ways.

Back at my hideout, I unloaded the safe and tried to open it.

I tried a random combination:

"8…13…10…"

CLUNK!

The safe wouldn't open.

I knew that a simple safe such as this couldn't have more than three numbers in its combination, so I settled on trying combinations of that length.

For the next few days, instead of going out into the battlefield, I stayed home and attempted to crack the safe.

And for the next few days, I had to contend with many wrong combinations.

Luckily, I wrote down every combination that I tried in case I didn't hit a correct combination.

That way, I could review which ones I had already tried.

It was frustrating, but I kept going.

"4…12…11…"

CLINK!

The safe opened!

There wasn't much inside it, just 100,000 rubles and a large black diamond.

I would've been enthusiastic to receive such a gift back in the old days, but in this world, money was practically worthless.

Still, I was intrigued by the black diamond.

I didn't feel like investigating it at this moment because I'd spent so much time trying to crack this safe and I was pretty fatigued.

Instead, I just took my custom tank handbook and placed it underneath the money.

I also placed the letter from "W.G." in there.

At the moment, the book and letter was more valuable, but you could probably have guessed that already.

Satisfied, I closed the safe and went to bed.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	17. Getaway

I was all ready to go for another battle.

I started up Goliath and headed to…Prokhorovka?

Something was wrong here.

Don't ask me why, but that same force that compelled me to go back to Malinovka also compelled me to go back here.

Nevertheless, I went along with it.

After all, I was not one to back away from a challenge, no matter how much strain it would put on me or my tank.

Alas, when I got here, there was hardly any challenge to be found, just the same unwashed masses that I had encountered at Malinovka and elsewhere.

Goliath and I got out of this challenge okay.

The only issue we had was with another SPG, an American contraption called an M7 "Priest".

Suddenly, I remembered seeing one back at that pass in the Ural Mountains where I had fought the Armored Shadows.

Unlike Ensk, though, Goliath got it before it got Goliath.

I just can't figure those things out.

I mean, I understand that enemy tanks are able to relay my position to these things if they can see me, but there have been instances where they could see me without the aid of spotters.

It's like I said before, they may well have a "sixth sense".

I thought it was pretty cowardly of them to shoot me from so far away rather than trying to engage me like any other tank.

All that aside, I just took Goliath home for the usual round of repairs & maintenance.

During the month, I was stuck in the same pattern of going to places I had already been to and blowing up tanks that I had already seen before.

While I enjoyed being a dominant force on the battlefield, I was disappointed by the relative lack of challenge that I had come to lately.

I really needed to get out of this rut.

The only new locale that I came to was a quiet little village named Murovanka.

It sure was nice to get some new scenery in my blood.

Unfortunately, my opponents were not as new.

Disappointingly enough, I ripped them all to shreds without much challenge.

At the end of the battle, rather than going straight home, I took some time to check out the scenery.

During this time, I caught sight of the sun setting beneath the hills.

It was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen in my life.

Unfortunately, it did little to help me with my problem.

At that moment, I thought, "I really need to get away."

"Maybe one day…"

Wait a minute, who was I kidding!?

I could get away right now if I wanted to!

I mean, if I could drive all the way to a far-flung place such as Redshire to do battle with enemy tanks, then I am certainly capable of going further!

Question is, where could I go to?

I was already bored with Europe, so no matter where I went, it couldn't possibly satisfy my need.

…Or could it?

Actually, after thinking about it some more, I decided not to travel anywhere else in Europe, no matter how far away it was from the Soviet Union.

But what next?

After a few more thoughts, I decided to travel south.

I was used to the sheer cold of Russian winters, but that didn't mean I liked nearly getting frozen to death.

Besides, it hadn't been overly warm in these past few months no matter where I went.

Now that I had a destination in mind, it was time to prepare…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	18. Going South

In order to complete such a journey, I was going to need supplies.

For this journey, I packed plenty of food, water, fuel and ammo.

If I ever ran out, I figured that I could always pick more up along the way.

At least, I hoped I could.

When I packed as many supplies as I could take, I headed out for my grand journey.

Eventually, lush grasslands and rocky mountain passes gave way to flat, barren desert lands.

Originally, whenever I took a resting period, I slept inside the turret of Goliath.

Unfortunately, as I got further south, it became too hot to sleep inside the tank, so I needed somewhere else to sleep.

Suddenly, an idea came to me:

I dug a trench underneath Goliath, being careful not to dig too close to the treads, and slept there.

It was much cooler in here.

And so I slept.

Lately, I had been dreaming of Mia.

I dreamt that she was okay and that we were living happily ever after.

However, one night, these dreams had taken a weird twist.

During the dream, it began to fade away to a mysterious, dark, hooded figure, with some ominous chanting in the background.

However, I woke up before this image lasted for too long.

I wasn't too scared or frightened by what I had seen, but I thought it was weird, nonetheless.

One day, I awoke to a new peril:

For some reason, a cobra had chosen to cuddle up with me in the trench that I was sleeping in.

I wasn't afraid of snakes.

I was, however, afraid of getting bit by one and dying a slow, painful death.

Slowly, I drew my Tokarev.

I must not have been slow enough, because the snake awoke and started hissing at me.

When I started to aim, it bit me on the arm.

Luckily, it bit a piece of armor plating instead of clothing.

After it struck, I blew its tiny little head off.

I then cooked it and had it for breakfast.

I can't exactly describe how it tastes, but I can tell you that it tasted good.

Maybe I should eat these slimy little bastards more often.

Then again, it's probably not worth the risk.

After further traveling, I made it to a riverbed in Egypt.

However, the River was completely dried out, with nothing but Sand in it.

Furthermore, when I got there, there were already two companies fighting with each other.

One of them was a German company, the other French.

Both sides had their tanks painted in a "desert" camouflage scheme.

Also, both sides had tanks I'd never seen before.

Rather than join the fray, I decided to wait for one side to lay waste to the other.

After a few minutes, the French emerged victorious, but it was clear that their remaining tanks were badly damaged.

Perfect.

The first tank I encountered was a tank of unknown type, most likely a heavy tank given its apparent size.

BOOM!

Goliath's cannon made mincemeat out of it.

I ducked back into cover to reload.

When I came out of cover, I sighted an ARL-44.

The strange thing about this ARL-44 was that, unlike other ARL-44s I'd seen, it had a more streamlined turret rather than the box-shaped one I was used to seeing.

Regardless, this guy landed a hit on me, but I didn't receive too much damage.

In contrast, he received critical damage, putting him out for good.

While waiting to reload, a BDR G1B showed up and broke my track.

I wasn't too worried, though.

As long as he didn't do too much damage, I could finish him off easily.

And how!

After he was gone, I worked on fixing up the broken track.

When I was almost done, a round whizzed by me, just barely missing me.

I finished the job and hopped back into Goliath, only to discover an AMX-40 targeting me.

BOOM!

That was the last tank he'd ever target!

I got ready to leave when I saw a Renault FT-17 targeting me.

This one only had a .51 caliber machine gun.

Rather than waste my time with him, I simply sat there and waited as he expended all his ammunition.

Since Goliath was faster, I just drove away.

Even though it wasn't much of a threat against Goliath, even that thing could still flatten me despite the fact that I wore a few kilograms of armor.

As such, I had to be somewhat quick as I grabbed supplies from the knocked-out tanks and attempted to identify my new "friends".

After this search, here's what I found out:

The German tanks were with a company known as "Die Apfel Korps", a company that wasn't very interested in fulfilling the mission of the Third Reich.

Rather, they just wanted to create their own little paradise by reforming the harsh desert lands of Africa into a lush oasis.

Judging by the conditions here, they hadn't gotten very far.

Among their new tanks, they had a medium tank called a Panzer V "Panther", a tank destroyer based off the Panzer IV known as the JagdPanzer IV, a hybrid medium tank called the Panzer III/IV, a light tank known as the VK 2801 and an SPG known as the Grille.

Given the apparent lack of any French SPGs, the other guys were lucky to have defeated the Korps.

Speaking of the other guys, the French belonged to "Les Serpents du Désert"*.

Les Serpents wanted to maintain control over French colonies in Africa, which was strange because, to my knowledge, Egypt was not a French colony.

Maybe they were trying to expand?

Whatever the case may be, they really only had one new tank, known as an AMX-M4 modèle 1945.

Wait…"modèle 1945"?

I had lost track of time, but I was pretty sure that we were not yet in the year 1945.

Maybe that signified the year that they intended to start producing it?

Who knows?

Barring that, the only other tank that could be considered new was an AMX-13 with a 90mm gun.

Having salvaged whatever I could from my vanquished opponents, I pressed further south into the unforgiving desert lands, leaving the FT-17 behind.

It didn't matter if I blew him up or not.

Out here, he was dead anyways.

* * *

*EN: The Desert Snakes

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	19. Sandstorm

With every kilometer I took, it started getting hotter.

However, I was a tough guy, so I just kept going.

The only time I ever bothered to stop, aside from rest periods, was to patch up some damage on Goliath.

I was a bit concerned about water, but at one point, I found a well.

Luckily, it still had water, so I took whatever I could of this clear liquid gold and kept going.

I soon crossed the Egyptian border into Sudan.

In Sudan, I came to a little village named El Halluf, which was concentrated around a deep valley.

Unlike the Sand River in Egypt, this place was under the control of the Apfel Korps.

My 152mm cannon wasn't the most accurate cannon, but I decided it would be safer to hold back for a bit and let the Korps members come to me, instead of the other way around.

Already, I spotted a Panzer II "Luchs" and a VK 1602 "Leopard" coming towards me.

The Leopard looked to be going faster, so I targeted it first.

BOOM!

The Leopard was toast.

The Luchs came up to me before I had reloaded, so I had to use an anti-tank grenade to destroy it.

Rather than staying here, I had to move.

Instead of going into the valley and getting myself killed, I decided to take the western flank.

Things were going pretty well until I got to the western side and was about to go downhill.

By the time I got there, there was a group of four tanks consisting of a Panther, a Panzer IV and two Panzer III/IVs.

The Panther looked like the biggest threat, so I fired at it first.

While it wasn't killed, it did take plenty of damage, including some broken tracks.

When the crew attempted to repair the tracks, I eliminated them using my hull-mounted DT machine gun.

I backed away, but as I backed away, I heard some rounds bouncing off my turret.

I discovered that there was another Leopard behind me, which, thankfully, was only armed with a 2cm flak gun.

I rammed the tank, immobilizing it, and then put it out of action with an anti-tank grenade.

By this time, my gun was loaded, and I discovered a Panzer IV aiming at me.

I had taken aim at him too, and ultimately, I was faster on the trigger than he was.

BOOM!

With the Panzer IV taken out, I turned my attention to the other tanks.

Unfortunately, an SPG was also firing at me, which complicated my work.

While he was only marginally accurate, he was still annoying me, so I had to eliminate the spotters.

With my cannon loaded, I eliminated one III/IV and severely damaged the other one because it was too close to his comrade.

The other one was summarily destroyed when I rammed it.

Still, the enemy artillery fired at me.

A Hetzer also fired at me from the top of the next hill.

I took careful aim, and…

BOOM!

One down, a few more to go.

Coming over this hill, I encountered a VK 2801.

He fired a shot at me, doing plenty of damage.

However, I simply took care of him and moved on.

I got a little reprieve for the next few moments, save for a couple of random artillery shells.

My reprieve ended when I encountered a second Panzer IV.

His tank also ended when he encountered me.

Coming over to their side, there was only a Hetzer expecting me.

He did a significant amount of damage to me, so I had to be cautious.

I edged my tank over until I could at least see part of him, and…

BOOM!

Hetzer destroyed!

Aside from him, the only other tank that seemed to be expecting me was a Panther, but I caught him looking another way and did massive damage to him.

After my first shot, I backed away and let him come to me.

When there was another round in the chamber, I went to engage him when he broke through a few nearby houses.

However, I was well-prepared for him.

BOOM!

After destroying the Panther, I decided to take cover behind its charred corpse when something caught my eye:

It was a Grille.

It was turning towards my direction.

Unfortunately, I had not completely reloaded before it fired.

Fortunately, it missed.

Also fortunate for me was the fact that I blew it away once I'd reloaded.

All that was left was a Panzer IV and a JagdPanzer IV.

The Panzer IV was coming my direction, which complicated matters somewhat.

Thankfully, I took aim before it did, and…

BOOM!

As for the JagdPanzer, I didn't waste another round on it because it was just sitting there.

Apparently, despite the loud, booming sound of my cannon, it was still expecting that I was going to make the mistake of crossing that forlorn valley.

Taking advantage of that crew's obliviousness, I left Goliath temporarily, opened up a hatch on the JagdPanzer, dropped an anti-tank grenade in and ran before it took me down with the JagdPanzer.

Phew, I've had enough of this sea of fire!

Before heading home, though, I decided to collect any supplies and scrap metal that I could in order to repair my tank.

While I was doing so, though, a sandstorm started brewing, so I got into the turret and waited for it to subside.

About an hour later, the sandstorm stopped.

When I got out to continue my repairs, I got a big surprise:

All the tanks that I had blown up had completely disappeared.

How did that happen!?

Was it some sort of magic?

As you know, I don't like to spend too much time trying to figure out such mysteries, especially when I had a job to do, so I finished up my repairs and started my journey back to Europe.

This journey was probably the hardest of all.

Being deep in the desert, I couldn't exactly get all the supplies I needed.

I knew, however, that water was more important than food, so I concentrated on trying to find that.

Fuel was the most difficult of all.

Although I was able to siphon some fuel from dead tanks, there was a problem:

My KV-2 – as with most Soviet tanks - was powered by diesel fuel.

All of the German and French tanks I encountered were powered by gasoline.

Actually, Goliath could still run on gas, but not as well.

Eventually, I ran out of fuel.

I got so angry that I just started to throw a tantrum, even shooting my Tokarev at the ground.

Luck had never shined brighter than before:

One of those shots opened a hole in the ground, causing oil to spout.

I didn't even care that it was raw petroleum; I just collected whatever I could, filled my tank and put the rest into fuel canisters.

Remember how I said Goliath could run on gasoline?

Well, as long as a liquid burns, Goliath will run on it.

Obviously, crude oil wasn't the best for that V-5 engine, but as long as it got me home, I wasn't going to be choosy.

By the time I had gone a significant distance north, I was tired, bleary and half-dead from hunger and thirst.

I had even started to have hallucinations about Mia, which soon morphed into the mysterious shadowy figure.

The occasional sandstorms didn't help, either.

Finally, when I thought that this was the end, I made it to the lush grasslands and cool mountain ranges of Europe.

Food and drink was more plentiful here.

I was so grateful to make it back home alive!

When I located my hideout, I carried out proper repairs.

I was so tired that I didn't feel like doing maintenance afterwards.

I simply fell asleep and didn't wake up until a few days later.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	20. Old Friends

When I woke up, I couldn't get out of bed at first.

I felt so relaxed that I didn't want to get out of bed.

However, after exerting plenty of willpower, I managed to get up.

Looking at Goliath, I realized that I must've been more tired than I thought.

I just noticed that the name "Goliath" had been completely erased from the tank.

Apparently, the sandstorms had eroded the paint.

Thankfully, I had more paint lying around, so I simply gave my best friend a fresh coat.

However, that wasn't enough.

Now that I was refreshed and ready to take on the world, I had to refresh its innards, too.

I disassembled the engine, cleaned up a lot of its parts and reassembled it.

I also drained the crude petroleum from the fuel tank, washed it out and put pure diesel fuel in.

Goliath was all ready to go!

With the two of us good to go, I fired up Goliath and headed out for battle.

* * *

Since I felt that my last engagement there was a fake, I headed back to Murovanka to see if any worthy opponents were waiting for me.

At first, I thought I was just getting more of the same when a T-50 and a Panzer III charged me.

I used the 152mm cannon to wipe out the T-50 and rammed the Panzer III, immobilizing it.

I headed east, moving towards a forested area.

That turned out to be a bad idea as a couple of shots rang out from the forest.

Luckily, they all missed, so I just pointed my cannon in the direction that the shots came from and fired.

I didn't try to find out if anyone was hit; I simply turned the other way and fell back.

This time, I decided to go north, staying to the west of the hills.

Coming to an intersection, I saw an SU-100 at the top of one hill.

BOOM!

I proved to be faster on the draw than he was.

I backed off a little while I waited for the cannon to reload.

While this was happening, a T-28 came from the north and attempted to charge me.

Additionally, artillery had begun to fire upon me.

The T-28 pulled up alongside me and attempted to shoot me.

I tried to bring my cannon sights onto him when…

BOOM!

The same artillery gun that was firing upon me accidentally destroyed the T-28, saving me the trouble of having to destroy it myself.

I proceeded further north, trying to seek cover in the westernmost hills and trying to dodge the artillery fire.

I also had to contend with a Hetzer that spotted me on another hill.

Though his shot damaged Goliath, it only grazed, so my tank was still all right.

When the 152mm M-10 was through with that Hetzer, it was anything but all right.

Shortly after the Hetzer was destroyed, the artillery subsided, but I felt that I should destroy it anyways.

Going up the westernmost hill, in an obscure corner, I encountered a German SPG of unknown type.

With a round fresh in the chamber, I blew up the SPG.

Come to think of it, the KV-2 is an SPG in a way.

Then again, no SPG that I've encountered has ever had a turret or good armor.

All that aside, rather than advancing, I decided to play it safe, lest my new opponents be as crafty as the Armored Shadows.

Here, I nestled Goliath into the corner and decided to make some observations.

Also, since my radio frequency has been intercepted in the past, I decided to fiddle around with the 10RK and see if I could pick up anything.

After a few seconds, I picked up the following signal:

"…with Unit Six. Squad Two, investigate the area, over."

"This is Unit Two; we are heading there now. Unit Two out."

After a few more moments, I saw Squad Two enter the area.

Squad Two consisted of two T-34s plus a large German tank that I'd never seen before.

In addition to elongated turrets, these T-34s also possessed long-barreled guns, possibly over 100mm in caliber.

I waited for them to turn away before attacking.

Knowing that it was better to remove any tanks from the battlefield quickly without regard to ranking, I aimed for one of the T-34s and fired.

BOOM!

"This is Unit Four, Unit Five has been lost! I repeat, Unit Five has been lost, over!"

"Unit Four, did you see where that shot came from, over?"

"Negative!"

"Unit Four, check the north. I'll cover the south. Unit Two out."

I waited until the T-34 and the German tank started going their separate ways, then…

BOOM!

The T-34 was knocked out.

I hid back behind the remains of the SPG.

A few moments later, the German tank radioed in:

"This is Unit Two, nothing to report in the southern quadrant. Unit Four, what's your status? Over."

"…Unit Four, I say again, what is your status!?'

"…Unit Four, where are you!?"

"We've lost contact with Unit Four. Investigate the western sector, over."

"This is Unit Three, we're already there! Unit Four has been destroyed, I repeat, Unit Four is down! Over!"

I drove out from cover just enough to see who had arrived.

Here, I saw a Panther plus two Panzer IVs.

"Unit Three, do you see anything? Over."

"Negative, sir! We will be conducting a thorough sweep of the western sec…"

BOOM!

While the shot did not destroy the Panther, it was heavily damaged, including a broken track. Over the radio, I heard just how shaken the crew was:

"This is Unit Three, WE'VE BEEN HIT! UNITS EIGHT AND NINE, CHECK IT IMMEDIATELY, OVER!"

"Roger that!"

My gun was not yet reloaded, so I waited a few more seconds.

When the time was right, I peeked out and noticed that one Panzer IV was headed in my general direction.

BOOM!

He was toast.

However, I think I alerted the Panther, so I went back into cover.

"Unit Nine, this is Unit Three! Unit Eight has been lost! One of our artillery units may have betrayed us! Over!

"Roger, this is Unit Nine! I am heading over there now! Unit Nine out!"

I drove Goliath to the other side of the hill in order to locate the second Panzer IV.

When I spotted it, I took aim and blasted it.

I had to duck back into cover because I thought I caught a glimpse of that mystery German heavy.

"This is Unit Three, I confirm that Unit Ten has gone crazy and is eliminating our own forces! Unit Seven, start bombarding Sector A1, over!"

"Roger, this is Unit Seven! I am aiming for that location now! Commencing bombardment! Unit Seven out!"

At that moment, I decided it would be best to take a new position.

I headed out and sighted the Panther just as the first shell hit.

I was still good, so I took careful aim at the Panther and finished it off.

I then went full speed ahead down the hill, evading another shell.

"Unit One, this is Unit Two! I have sighted an enemy tank, type KV-2 with unknown armament! Attacking him now! Unit Two out!"

"Roger! Unit Seven, reset your gun coordinates! Unit One out!"

"Roger! Unit Seven Out!"

The remaining German tank took a shot at me and hit my turret, but my tank was still holding together.

Instead of engaging him head on, I went around the hill and attempted to hit him on the side.

I also had to be concerned about "Unit One", whatever it may be.

Going down one road, I sighted the German tank, who happened to be facing away from me, so I took careful aim and fired…

BOOM!

"This is Unit Two, we have suffered critical damage! We are still okay, but I don't know how much more of this we can take! Unit One, help us out here, over!"

"Unit Two, we're on our way! Proceed carefully! Unit One out!"

I hid amongst a group of houses, hoping that none of my foes would see me.

I also shut off my engine for the time being.

A minute or so later, I heard the rumbling of a diesel engine & caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a Soviet tank, but I couldn't be sure.

I just sat perfectly still.

After a few moments, I heard the following message:

"This is Unit One. No sign of our friend here. Where did you see him? Over."

"He was heading east the last time I saw him. I suggest we search over there. He may even have gone to our base, too. Over."

"Acknowledged. I will head back to base. Unit Two, search near Sector J9. Unit One out."

"Roger. Unit Two Out."

I waited until the diesel faded off into the distance and restarted my engine.

However, I think the German spotted me.

"Unit One, this is Unit Two! I've spotted the KV-2! He's…"

BOOM!

The crew never got to finish their message before I destroyed the tank.

"Unit Two, where is the enemy!? Unit Two, RESPOND!"

"Unit Two is down! Unit Seven, focus your gun near the southeastern quadrant, over!"

"Roger that, sir! Setting new coordinates…"

BOOM!

In the forest, I located Unit Seven, a Soviet SPG of unknown type, and had blown it up!

Turns out I had also blown up an unknown tank destroyer earlier in the battle.

"Unit Seven, what the hell is going on!?"

"Hey, Unit One," I chimed in, "if you want me, then come and get me!"

"Whoever you are, you have been meddling with us far too long, and now it is time for you to get what you deserve!"

"So be it!"

In the forest, I waited for the other guy to show up.

A few moments later, the Soviet tank came into view.

The turret looked similar to a KV-1S turret, but the chassis was completely different. In fact, it looked sort of like an enlarged T-34 chassis.

Regardless, I aimed carefully and fired…

BOOM!

While the tank was not destroyed, I did manage to set it on fire.

Unfortunately, the crew put the fire out.

I attempted to take a new position, but the tank took aim at me and fired, causing significant damage.

Thus, we were engaged in our own little dance of death, just me and him.

It was now or never.

I took careful aim, and…

BOOM!

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	21. Reflections

A funny thing happened:

The unknown Soviet tank had destroyed Goliath, but at the same time, I had destroyed him, too.

Once again, though, my armored suit prevented me from taking critical damage.

I was pretty mad at what happened, but Goliath had been destroyed and repaired once before, so I knew just what it needed.

While I was repairing Goliath, a thought came to me:

For some reason, it seemed as if most of the trouble I had in battle was due to enemy Soviet tanks.

True, other tanks did cause problems for me, and of course there was that incident at Ensk, but that was different.

I thought of Malinovka, the Ural Mountains, the Steppes, and now this:

I never thought my own country's tanks could be so problematic.

Sure, I knew they were good, but I never dreamed that they would turn against me like this.

Then again, Goliath had dished out its own share of annoyances.

Whatever the case was, no one else came to the scene, so I finished up Goliath's repairs without much trouble, and before going home, took some time to find out who my foes were.

My research showed that they were the Molotov-Ribbentrop Coalition, a group who agreed that Operation Barbarossa was a big mistake and wanted to restore the friendship between Germany & the Soviet Union.

To do this, they were going to split the world in half, setting the line at Poland. Germany would get the West, while we got the East.

The very thought of this sickened me.

Never in a million years would I let Germany take any part of the world beyond their own borders, especially not after what they had done to us in the First World War and especially after I heard how they treated Soviet POWs.

But all that aside, here's what I found out about their new tanks:

They had a strange tank destroyer called an SU-85I, which certainly looked similar to the SU-85, but was based on a German chassis.

Their two artillery guns were a Hummel, a German SPG, and an SU-8, a Soviet SPG based on a T-28 chassis.

The unknown German heavy tank was called a Panzer VI, better known as a "Tiger".

This one mounted an 88mm gun, similar to their flak guns.

Didn't I also see a Panther with something similar?

What really caught my attention, though, was that Soviet heavy tank that got off one last shot before being destroyed:

It was called the "Iosif Stalin", after the Soviet Union's leader, or "IS" for short.

I crumpled the handbook a little when I saw this name.

As much as I hated the Germans, I didn't agree with Stalin too much, either.

Then again, I didn't exactly agree with the old Lenin government.

Somehow, I had the distinct feeling that Russia had gotten a poor lot in life when it came to governments.

But what about the United States?

Were they really any better?

I mean, Soviet propaganda often decried the US as being a nation of mindless, decadent warmongers who, among other things, lacked emotion and only cared about money.

While I questioned whether this was true, I was not allowed to do so openly because I also valued my life.

But I've been rambling too much.

Since none of that matters anymore, let me get back to tanks:

There were two different versions of the IS: The IS-1 and the IS-2.

The IS-1 ordinarily mounted an 85mm D-5T, but was also capable of mounting a 100mm D-10T or an 85mm D5T-85BM.

As I had also learned, the T-34 was also capable of mounting the latter two guns if it had the correct turret mounted.

Maybe that's why I saw elongated guns on those two T-34s!

The other IS, the IS-2, mounted two different types of 122mm guns: The D-2-5-T, which I was familiar with because of the KV-3, and the D-25T.

The tank I had encountered was the IS-2.

I was right. These things were nasty.

I didn't care, though.

Common sense would have told me that I should get a new tank by now, but I didn't really feel like it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Goliath has its limitations and that the other tanks were improving in terms of armor protection and firepower.

However, Goliath is special.

This was the first tank that I really cared about in my entire career.

Unlike the T-46 or T-28, this tank was more than just a firepower upgrade.

This was the first tank that really protected me from "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", as Shakespeare had once said.

That protection kept me alive long enough to do some major damage, too.

Plus, Goliath never threatened to demote me, forced me to do menial labor or tried to have me shipped to the Gulag for trivial matters.

It was like we were destined to be together.

But, that's enough chit-chat for now!

Since no one else arrived in Murovanka during this time, I left and made it back home safely.

Oh, and one more thing:

The handbooks I picked up mentioned an IS-3 at one point, but I couldn't find any entries for this one, so I assumed that it was a misprint.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	22. Swamped

After I was done taking care of Goliath, I decided that I needed some way to hide it during battle.

I looked around my hideout and found a large green canvas.

I altered it a little and stuck random pieces of foliage on it to create an improvised camouflage net.

The net was large enough to fit Goliath, but it only worked well if the tank was standing still.

Also, the net looked blatantly fake at close range.

Nevertheless, it was good enough for its intended purpose, so I rolled it up, strapped it onto Goliath and headed to the Swamps at Pripyat.

Everything looked innocent enough, but I kept my guard up, knowing that this could be a repeat of that time in the Urals.

However, even after a minute or so, no one cared to show up.

I dared not go down the center because I figured that their ambush would be set up there.

Rather, I took the northern road.

That road was pretty clear, until…

"WHAT THE…!?"

My KV-2 had driven into a trap!

Somebody had dug a pit in the ground and covered it up.

Whoever dug it had done their research; the pit was large enough for Goliath, so it couldn't drive out by itself.

However, they forgot one thing:

They didn't dig the pit deep enough to compensate for the tall KV-2 turret!

So, my tank was an immobile pillbox for the time being.

Not long after we fell into the pit, a couple of American tanks showed up to have their way with me.

There was an M2 medium, an M4 Sherman and an unrecognized tank.

Knowing the potential danger that mystery tanks posed, I took it out first.

Because the 152 was closer to the ground, the gun blast actually displaced some of the nearby dirt.

Seeing what happened to their comrade, the remaining tanks decided to turn and flee.

Meanwhile, I tried to dig my way out of this pit.

It wasn't easy, and just like Ensk, I had to return to my now-immobilized tank when anybody showed up.

The M2 & M4 returned only when they had brought a few friends, namely, an M4A3E8 and a vehicle that resembled a Sherman, albeit with a pyramid-like hull and a different turret.

Though they damaged me, a bunch of their shots missed because my turret was partially covered.

Not sure of who to take out first, I went for the M4A3E8 first and blew it up.

As for the M4-like vehicle, I tossed an anti-tank grenade at it, putting it out of action.

I damaged the other Sherman with another grenade.

All of a sudden, artillery fire started to rain down on my location.

Luckily, one of the shells struck the M2 by accident, putting it out of commission and taking care of a potential spotter.

The surviving Sherman made a frenzied retreat, but during his retreat, he randomly blew up.

How did that happen!?

I didn't hear any cannon fire or see any shell trails.

That only left one other possibility:

There were mines in this area.

Not good.

It was bad enough that Goliath was stuck here for the time being, but now I have to deal with mines!?

Even worse, I had no mine detectors with me, so there were only three possibilities:

First, I could get out on foot and probe the land manually using my knife, but that was too risky because an enemy tank could easily kill me.

Second, I could toss one of my anti-tank grenades into an area where I thought there might be a mine, but I only had a couple left, and those were too precious to waste.

Third, I could use the 152 to detonate them, but then I wouldn't have enough shells left to take on enemy tanks.

Speaking of enemy tanks, another one of those unidentified tanks came along with an M4A3E2 tagging behind.

I stopped digging, took out the unidentified tank with one of my grenades and used Goliath's cannon to destroy the Sherman.

I immediately resumed digging, trying to go as fast as humanly possible and trying not to accidentally bury Goliath.

Artillery continued to rain down, but none of the shells struck Goliath.

Thanks to the craters made by the random artillery fire and by the muzzle blast of Goliath's 152mm howitzer, along with the furious rate at which I was digging, I eventually dug a suitable ramp for Goliath to get out of the pit.

However, it was pretty slow to get out of the pit.

Nevertheless. I made it out of there without too much trouble.

My only problem now – aside from the remaining enemy tanks – was: How am I going to proceed any further through this area without detonating a mine?

One wrong move and Goliath would be destroyed, or at the very least, it would lose a track.

Hmm…

Track…

THAT WAS IT!

I decided to follow the trail left behind by the M4A3E2, which went around the north side of the area.

Things were going well until a random shot damaged Goliath and severed my track.

After another shot came from the same direction and missed me, I aimed in that direction, and…

BOOM!

Whatever had fired at me was now destroyed.

After fixing the track, I proceeded further and sighted a bridge.

Rather than crossing the bridge, though, I proceeded to a nearby bush.

The reason I did so was because I wanted to test out my new camo net.

Once I had driven Goliath over to the bush, I threw the camo net over it and crawled under.

Before that, I also covered up the tread marks left behind by Goliath so that no one could find it.

Once I was back in my tank, I shut off the engine and just waited.

And waited.

And waited…

I listened for the sounds of tank engines and peeked through a hole in the net to check for any tanks passing by.

However, a few hours passed, and nobody came.

Nevertheless, I decided to go along with whatever little waiting game they had in mind.

It wasn't easy, though.

Night fell, and still, none of these guys came to look for me.

Rather than falling asleep, I thought it would be a better idea to stay awake just in case anybody came searching for me.

It was difficult, but I think I must've stayed up all night without anybody finding me.

Eventually, though, I had to bow to the inevitable, and when morning came and nobody showed, I let my sleepiness take hold of me…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	23. Rise and Shine

However, my sleep didn't last long.

About an hour or two later, I was awoken by the sound of an explosion.

The Americans must have lost patience with me because they were bombarding the whole area with shells.

None of them got me, though a few came too close.

Eventually, the bombing ceased.

Now what?

I felt like I wanted to go back to sleep, but if they actually decided to drive around looking for me, then I couldn't take that chance.

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I managed to stay awake and stay on the lookout for the remaining enemy tanks.

Eventually, another M4A3E8 crossed the bridge looking for me.

However, it was the tank that came after it – an unknown heavy tank – that I was more interested in.

When this tank passed by, I threw the netting off, quickly cranked the turret around, and fired.

BOOM!

That tank was gone!

When he was destroyed, I started my engine up and checked radio traffic to see what their plans were:

"Able Two, why are you late with that report!?"

"Able Two, respond!"

"We've lost contact with Able Two. Able Four, check it out, over!"

"Roger that, Able One! Heading there now! Able Four out!"

I'm not sure why I didn't do this before.

I was probably more focused on rescuing Goliath.

I crossed the bridge, which was surprisingly strong, but when I was across, someone else fired a round at me.

"This is Charlie Three! I see him! Over!"

His round didn't hit me, but it came uncomfortably close.

As usual, I aimed in his direction and fired.

BOOM!

Once I was done with him, I turned around just in time to catch that E8.

"This is Able Four, I've got him now! Over!"

I had no time to reload before he could shoot me, so I used one of my remaining anti-tank grenades to dispose of him.

After the E8 was killed, I continued onwards to the southern area, following any tank tracks that I came across.

When I was closing in, I was fired upon by another unknown tank, who missed me.

It resembled the M4-like vehicle with the pyramid-shaped hull, but as far as I could see, it had a different turret.

Regardless, I took aim and fired at it.

Unfortunately, I missed.

I kept driving, hoping that he'd miss me.

Both shots hit me, but only did minimal damage.

With another round loaded, I took aim, and…

BOOM!

I kept going.

When I made it to the southern area, there was no one else save an M7 Priest and an unidentified SPG.

However, they were all out of ammo, so they were no trouble.

Ordinarily, I would've headed home without a care in the world, but my experience told me that this stage in the battle was when a really powerful enemy tank was about to come upon me, so I stayed alert.

Sure enough, a radio call confirmed that notion:

"Hey man, you've been lucky so far, but nobody outfoxes the Swamp Foxes!"

I replied to him: "Really? Well, I'm sure we'll find out who the true victor is!"

I spotted an unknown heavy tank emerge from the center swamp.

I was quicker on the draw than him, though, so I did a significant amount of damage to his tank.

He managed to hit me, though, and Goliath was doing terribly at this point.

Using my last anti-tank grenade, I broke his track.

Rather than dismounting, though, the tank crew stayed inside their tank and continued to engage me.

I closed in on him and maneuvered around him, similar to what happened at Murovanka.

His next shot damaged Goliath, but amazingly, it was still alive.

I didn't know how much more punishment it could take, though.

My next shot damaged the enemy tank badly but did not kill it.

In this little dance of death, the enemy missed a shot at close range and hit me another time, but did no damage.

It was now or never.

I reloaded as quickly as I possibly could, and…

BOOM!

Enemy vehicle destroyed!

Now that the battle was finished, I did my usual round of investigations.

As I had discovered earlier, my opponents were called "The Swamp Foxes", who, as it turned out, were named after Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, an American general who had fought in the American War of Independence.

Like their namesake, these guys were cunning survivalists who excelled at stealth, field repairs and constructing improvised traps.

They also had a tendency to shoot first and not ask questions later, which probably explained their casual attitude towards friendly fire.

Now, as for their tanks, here's what I found:

One of their heavy tanks was called an M6.

They also had two tank destroyers based on the M4 Sherman chassis: The M36 and the M10.

Wait…tank destroyers?

Aren't tank destroyers supposed to be turretless?

Ah, the Americans probably had new ideas about what counted as a tank destroyer.

The mystery SPG I saw was called an M41, which was based on the chassis of one of their light tanks, the M24 "Chaffee".

As I had learned during the battle, the M24 was not actually that dangerous.

Nevertheless, I vowed to be careful when sighting any suspicious tanks.

Finally, their other heavy was known as the T29.

I decided to refer to it as the "Terrible 29" because of its firepower and armor.

As usual, the handbook stated that the Terrible 29 could be equipped with varying guns.

The one I faced was armed with a 90mm gun, which, while not the most powerful gun in its arsenal, was certainly dangerous.

After this investigation, I fixed up Goliath as well as I could and headed home.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	24. Ram and Scram

After my previous battle, I concluded that while the firepower of the 152mm M-10 was impressive, the slow reloading time was undesirable and would eventually get me killed.

But what could I do?

Those 152mm shells were heavy, and while the crew was getting much better with reloading, the reload time was still in the 20-30 second range.

There had to be some way to improve upon this!

I looked around my hideout, searching through all the blueprints I'd collected.

Eventually, I found something that looked like it would do the trick: A tank gun rammer.

With a suitable blueprint, I set to work on this device.

This was probably one of the most challenging implements I'd ever fabricated, and it took me a while to build.

However, I managed to complete it eventually.

Mounting it was also a challenge, but I managed to get it to fit.

Now, the only thing that was left was field testing.

I liked the scenery there, so I went to Murovanka to test the device.

When I got there, I found a full team of tanks waiting to challenge me.

These guys didn't appear to have any unusual tanks, so they didn't look too tough.

Without further question, I aimed at a Panzer 38(t) and fired.

BOOM!

One down!

Unfortunately, the gun rammer didn't seem to be working.

It still took me a little over 20 seconds to reload.

There had to be a better way to do this.

In spite of this misfortune, I chose to keep battling.

There were no artillery units to worry about, but there were a few tank destroyers that I had to contend with.

Also, they had two KV-3s working for them.

One of them looked like the one I saw at the Steppes, but the second one had a different turret, shaped like a hexagon of sorts.

Perhaps the second one was a prototype variant?

Either way, these things were dangerous, so I targeted the one with the conical turret first.

He suffered massive damage, but he was still alive.

He had his gun pointed in my direction and was about to fire when…

BOOM!

Some unknown tank destroyed the second KV-3 with one shot.

The KV-3 that I damaged turned away from me, hoping to avenge his fallen comrade.

That gave me the extra few seconds I needed.

However, when I was aiming at him, some strange urge caught a hold of me:

I wanted that KV-3.

I decided to flank him before he could turn his sights back on me.

I knew that our mysterious guest might end up destroying that KV-3 before I could get to it, but I had to take a chance.

I hid Goliath in the village and went for the KV-3 on foot.

Luckily, it was still alive, and I saw the turret hatch close.

Perhaps they finished repairing part of their tank?

Whatever the case, I ran to it and jumped on it before it got away.

As usual, I opened the hatch and killed a couple of crewmen.

I fell back in case one of them decided to pull me inside the tank, just like Ensk.

One of them popped out of the hatch, so I shot him in the head.

The tank was still driving, so I held on tight, climbed over to the driver's hatch, opened it and killed him.

By now, I must have created plenty of fear and confusion amongst the survivors.

One other crewman popped out of the turret and tried to shoot me, but I was faster on the draw than him.

Jeez, how many crew members did this one tank require?

After that guy was dead, somebody threw a Tokarev out of the hatch.

The last surviving crew member came out a few seconds later and said, "I give up! P…please don't shoot!"

"Listen, you're going to do exactly as I say," I replied, "and if you try any foolish crap, I'm going to destroy you! Do you understand!?"

"Y-y-yes! Just don't shoot me!"

"OK, first, we've gotta get rid of these bodies!"

After burying the dead crewmen, I helped him to repair the tank a little.

Once that was done, I told him, "OK, now you're going to drive this tank away and you're going to keep driving until I say to stop! Is that clear!?"

He replied, "B-but…I'm just the loader! I don't even know how to drive this thing!"

"Well, okay, then I'll teach you!"

I gave him a little crash course on driving. He seemed to be a rather quick learner.

After that, I told him, "Now stay here and don't move until I tell you to!"

"Okay, okay!"

I ran back to Goliath and started it up.

Once I started it up, I tuned the radio until it was on the same frequency as the KV-3's.

I sent the following message: "Okay, pal, do you read me, over?"

"Yes…I read you. W-where do you…want me to go?"

"HEY! You forgot to end your call with 'over', over!"

"S-s-sorry about that! Please don't hurt me, over!"

"I won't hurt you for that mistake. Just keep driving east, you got that? Over."

"Yes…I understand. Over."

"OK then. No funny business! Out."

We had to leave this area quickly, lest the mysterious tank turn on me as well.

However, given the fact that it destroyed one of the KV-3s for me, I figured it was pretty likely that it was trying to help me.

I scanned all radio frequencies except for the one that the other KV-3 was on and tried to establish contact with it.

"This is a message for the tank that destroyed the KV-3. Wherever you are, please identify yourself!"

Nothing.

I tried again:

"I repeat, whoever destroyed that KV-3, please come out! I want to talk to you!"

Still nothing.

"Whoever you are, thanks for saving my life! I owe you one, buddy!"

Silence.

Hopefully, I'll cross that guy's path again.

In the meantime, I "escorted" that KV-3 towards my hideout.

It was a particularly tough journey, considering the potential for enemy tanks to come out of the woodwork and attack us.

However, the only tanks that ever bothered us were a T-34 and a couple of French tanks, neither of which did major damage to Goliath or the KV-3 before succumbing to the power of Goliath's 152mm howitzer.

At one point, the KV-3 ran out of fuel, so I did him a kindness and siphoned half the fuel from Goliath to keep him going.

We did find two fuel dumps along the way, so that was helpful, too.

Eventually, though, I just had to let the guy go.

Since we were getting pretty close to my hideout, I told him: "OK, this is where we stop, over!"

"W-what are you going to do to me now?" he asked, "over."

"Listen, I want you to get out of the tank and start running! If you try anything funny, I'm gonna blow you up, got it!? Over!"

"Okay...just d-don't hurt me, you promise? Over."

"I promise. NOW GO! OUT!"

Without further question, he abandoned the KV-3 and ran to parts unknown.

When he disappeared beyond the hills, I simply leapfrogged Goliath & the KV-3

back to my secret hideout.

I didn't know how I was going to fit both of these tanks in there, so I just threw as much foliage on the KV-3 as I could and parked Goliath inside.

Here, I not only did repairs and maintenance to Goliath, but also tried to remove the gun rammer.

I needed a better way to improve my gun's reload time.

Unfortunately, I couldn't remove it.

Apparently, the gun rammer was built too well.

It felt like I would either destroy the gun or the rammer if I tried to remove it myself.

Furthermore, I didn't have any blueprints for any other devices that would improve the reloading time of my cannon, so I had to leave the rammer attached.

I suppose it's better to leave it on anyways.

After all, anything I can do to shorten the reload time is beneficial, right?

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	25. Continuation War

Well, now that I've conquered enemies to the west and to the south, where else can I possibly go?

Looking at the map, I tried to plot out all the known locations that I've been to.

After plotting them all out, I realized that I'd hardly gone north or east.

Since it was closer, I decided to go north.

Actually, I had a whole expedition to Scandinavia planned out.

Besides, now that I had no one to order me around, I figured it might be time to finish up what we had started.

I brought Goliath because since I knew it better, I felt better taking it into unknown territory.

My expedition took me to Karelia first.

This place reminded me of Redshire, with its hilly terrain and multiple angles of attack.

After a brief look around, I decided that the northern and center paths were too wide open, so I went to a valley in the south.

True, the enemy could still ambush me here, but their angles were limited.

Speaking of ambushes, I was attacked by a vehicle that resembled an American M3/M5 tank.

However, it appeared to be equipped with some sort of howitzer.

Regardless, I put it out of commission with a 152mm round.

I continued into the valley.

For a few moments, everything looked clear.

However, I encountered a KV-1S and an unidentified American tank ahead, possibly a medium.

One of them missed, and the other one hit me, but didn't even scratch me.

I aimed for the KV-1S first and blew it to pieces.

To my right, I spotted a small hill with a rock formation sticking out of it.

That looked like it would be good cover, so I waited a couple more seconds and started heading up the hill.

The American tank attempted to intercept me going up the hill, but my gun was reloaded, so I backed down a little and tried to lure him into following me.

It worked! When he backed down…

BOOM!

Knocked out!

I climbed up the hill the rest of the way, which was slow, but it was a short climb.

At the top, I had a good view of the central path and to a certain extent, the north.

Since there were plenty of bushes here, I used my camo net to cover the rear of the tank rather than the front.

Up here, I saw a few more American & Soviet tanks on patrol for me.

Plenty of fresh meat!

I aimed my cannon at an M6 – or what I thought was an M6 – and opened fire.

BOOM!

That tank was knocked out!

Some nearby tanks stopped and started looking around, but I don't think they spotted me.

Just to be sure, I tapped into their radio frequency:

"…nothing sighted so far! Everyone, maximum alert! 3C out!"

Sure enough, I hadn't been spotted, so I took aim at an M4A3E2 and fired…

BOOM!

"This is 3C! They got 1D! Still no sign of anything! Anyone else see him!? Over!"

"3C, this is 2B. I can't see anything from where I am! Keep searching, over!"

"Roger! 3C out!"

BOOM!

3C, an M2 medium, was destroyed!

All of a sudden, I got this call:

"Attention all troops, this is 1C, I've spotted an enemy KV-2 in Sector G7! I repeat, all troops head for G7, over!"

"1C, this is 2E, I am nearing that location now! 2E out!"

Well, now that I'd been spotted, I figured that there wasn't much point in staying here, so I removed my camo net and got a nasty surprise when I sighted a T-28 coming out of nowhere.

I dove behind Goliath to dodge his shot.

A couple of seconds later, I threw an anti-tank grenade at it and destroyed it.

Someone else had hit Goliath during this time, but didn't do major damage to it, so I got back into Goliath and drove down the other side of the hill, where I spotted a T-127 coming up.

Though I had never seen one in battle before, I did recall seeing it in one of the handbooks that I collected.

Its role in this battle was short, though, because I ran over it on the way downhill.

It wasn't quite as fragile as an MS-1, but I did smash its turret, nonetheless.

Speaking of the MS-1, I turned the corner and found one waiting for me, so I ran over that as well.

Another KV-1S rounded the corner, but I was quicker on the draw than him, so it became a burning steel corpse as well.

I kept driving, but all of a sudden, an SU-85 tank destroyer fired at me and damaged one of my tracks.

I started to take aim, but it ducked behind a concrete pillbox.

Instead, I aimed for the pillbox and fired, destroying the pillbox.

I fell back into a small alcove while I waited to reload.

As my 152 was close to being reloaded, I started to come out from my little corner, but something else hit my turret.

I looked left and saw a Panzer IV, but this was a weird one because it was painted in Soviet colors.

A captured German tank!?

Why haven't I seen one like that before?

I only saw it for a couple of seconds before it ducked back into cover.

When it came out a few seconds later, I had my 152 all ready for it.

BOOM!

Now that it was gone, I was free to engage the SU-85.

I saw that it was rotating in my direction and prepared to fire.

Once again, I had the upper hand.

The way to the base seemed pretty clear, but on the way, another unknown American tank came to engage me.

He hit my tank, but did minimal damage.

That was the last tank he'd ever hit.

At this hilltop base, there wasn't much else besides an up-armored SU-76.

Rather than use another shell on it, I destroyed it with an anti-tank grenade.

I observed the battlefield just in case there was an enemy tank that was still out there.

Sure enough, there was a Soviet tank of unknown type heading back this way.

I took cover behind a pillbox and fired at it.

He suffered plenty of damage, even a broken track, but he was still alive.

He took a few shots at me, some of which missed and some of which bounced.

I took only one other shot at him, which destroyed his tank.

As usual, when the smoke cleared, I ran a check on these guys, who, fittingly enough, were named the Soviet-American Alliance.

They were a sort of "foreign legion", made up of Soviet tankers and members of the Communist Party USA who had fled their own country to evade persecution.

Most of their tanks were already familiar to me, but here's what I found out:

What I thought was an M6 heavy tank was actually a T1 heavy tank, a prototype of the M6.

They had two tank destroyers called an M8A1 and a T49, both of which fit this new, unusual template of "tank destroyers with turrets", a phenomenon that so far seemed uniquely American.

Speaking of tank destroyers, that SU-76 I saw was actually an SU-85B, which was confusing because it looked different from the SU-85.

Finally, that other Soviet tank was called a KV-13, which proved to be the most enigmatic tank of the bunch.

It didn't look too much like any other KV-series tanks that I'd seen, except maybe the KV-1S.

In fact, it looked like a miniature version of the IS.

Maybe this was a prototype?

With all this new information, I fixed up any damage done to Goliath and pressed further.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	26. Cold Case

On the way there, I found a supply stash that happened to contain some fuel plus a few 152mm shells.

Newly refreshed, I kept going towards Finland.

As I got closer to the Finnish border, it started to snow.

By the time I got to the infamous Mannerheim Line, the landscape had been blanketed in white.

I kept my eyes open for enemy tanks.

All of a sudden, I was hit by a tank that I couldn't even see.

As I had learned back in the Urals, I kept moving in order to increase my chances of losing him.

A minute later, I actually spotted the outline of a T-34 in the snow.

It was pretty difficult to spot because it was painted in a "winter" camouflage scheme.

However, having faced T-34s before, I knew that his paint job wouldn't do much to stop a 152mm shell, and it still proved true when I destroyed his tank.

Knowing that there could very well be others trying to hide in the snow, I proceeded cautiously.

Going around a corner, I spotted an American medium tank painted in a similar "winter" camouflage.

I thought it was a Sherman, but something about it told me that this was a different tank altogether.

Regardless, my cannon was fully loaded by now, so I took aim and…

BOOM!

With two down, I proceeded further.

A few artillery shells landed close behind me, and one broke my track.

A track wasn't much of a challenge for me to fix, so I had Goliath up and running in no time.

By this time, though, a group of two T-34s had broken silence and were closing in on me.

One of them seemed to have an unnaturally fast rate of fire, so I took that one out first.

The other one was closing in rather fast, so I rammed into it going downhill, which severely damaged it, but did not destroy it.

I didn't dare fire my cannon at close range, though, so I left Goliath, opened up a hatch on the T-34 and killed the surviving crew members with my Tokarev.

When I got going, I saw a rather open area to my right, which meant certain death for me.

Rather than being suicidal, I went left, going up a small hill similar to the one I climbed in Karelia.

Up here, I took some time to observe the battlefield.

Goliath didn't have a full-fledged spotter's scope, so I used a pair of binoculars to observe the area.

I could see a few T-34s and one of those unknown American tanks attempting to hide in the snow, but some of them were very difficult to make out against the snowy backdrop.

I actually spotted a couple of T-34s because they stood out against the horizon.

Well, looks like their special paint's not gonna help them out there, is it?

To the east, I thought I spotted something that looked like a tank destroyer, but maybe I was seeing things.

Just in case, I decided to back away a little to make Goliath harder to hit

Then, I aimed at one of the T-34s, and…

BOOM!

Gotcha!

I concentrated on the tanks closer to me for the sake of accuracy.

They started to investigate their fallen comrade, but I don't think they saw me yet.

Another T-34 seemed to be headed in my direction, though, so I waited for my cannon to load, and promptly destroyed the tank when I got another round in.

You know, I heard a legend that a KV-2 once held up an entire tank column.

While I wasn't going to discount that legend entirely, Goliath and I had been having enough trouble with smaller teams, so it might be false.

In any case, I decided to take a risk and wait here a bit longer.

It might not have been such a wise idea because one of those unknown American tanks came into view when I was still reloading.

I only had a few seconds left anyways, so I got my cannon sighted in and fired.

The enemy tank managed to get off one last shot before it was knocked out, but it bounced.

A couple of seconds later, A T-34 pulled up alongside the burning wreckage of the American tank.

I wasn't ready to fire, though, so I threw an anti-tank grenade at it and knocked it out.

Fearing that they might have something especially powerful coming my way, I backed down the hill and decided to flank around to the right.

It was a good thing I did that, too, otherwise I'd have been destroyed in a fierce engagement.

I knew that it was going to take me into the more open area, and possibly into certain death, but I'd decimated enough of them already, so I figured it was worth the risk.

On my way towards the area where I came from, I was attacked by another T-34.

However, it wasn't like any other T-34 I'd seen.

True, it did have the T-34's hull, but the turret was larger than any T-34 turret I'd seen before, I mean, it wasn't like the T-34-85's extended turret, it was large all around.

I didn't think it could be much tougher than an ordinary T-34, so I took a shot at it.

BOOM!

Amazingly enough, it actually survived my shot!

However, given the nature of the 152mm cannon, I didn't think that this guy was faring so well.

After all, both his tracks were shattered.

Despite his generally poor condition, he seemed well enough to take a shot at me, which missed.

Of course, that tank could reload faster than me, so Goliath ended up taking a hit.

Goliath bounced another shell before destroying this odd T-34.

For a few moments, things were going well until one of those American tanks snuck up on me.

He didn't do too much damage, though, so I simply cranked the turret around and steered Goliath until I had a clear shot.

BOOM!

Now that he was gone, I was free to destroy the rest of them.

In the southern sector, I spotted what appeared to be an SU-85 or SU-100, so I drove over to a nearby rock sticking out of the ground.

Goliath took damage from the tank destroyer, but it was still good.

The tank destroyer took damage from Goliath, however, and it was no longer good.

I considered pressing further, but they might have another trap set up for me, so I threw the camo net over Goliath, and seeing as how it looked a bit obvious out here in the wintry landscape, I threw some snow over the net to cover it up a little better.

Artillery rained down near my general area, but none of the shells hit me or my tank.

With the engine shut off, I waited for someone else to come around.

After a few minutes, I saw an IS-2 come by to my location.

The tank sat there looking for me, but I don't think it spotted me because it continued driving a few minutes later.

Maybe the crew mistook me for a rock.

When it got suitably far, I dismounted the camo net, restarted Goliath's engine and progressed into a valley to the east.

The valley turned left to a hill, which was unguarded.

However, the area at the top of the hill was nice and open, with some "dragon's teeth" for good measure.

Here, I could see an SU-100 looking out for the west side plus an SU-8 in a far corner.

I set my sights for the SU-100 first, when something else caught my eye:

It was an unknown Soviet tank destroyer that appeared to be mounting a large-caliber gun.

I got the machine in my sights and fired.

BOOM!

Surprisingly, this machine was destroyed in one hit!

Weird, I expected more from that thing.

The SU-100 was too close to wait for reloading, so I used an anti-tank grenade to knock it out.

Furthermore, that SU-8 had started firing on me.

Its first shot didn't hit me, but it came too close.

The way I saw it, as long as I kept moving, it couldn't get a good hit on me.

Besides, I had to get closer for a better shot.

When I got closer, I sighted in quickly and destroyed the SU-8.

Now, there was the matter of the IS-2 still remaining.

Having learned my lesson from facing one before, I decided to stay low rather than engaging it in a direct confrontation.

To this end, I nestled in to the corner and put the camo net on.

With the engine shut off again, I waited for my prey.

Just a few seconds later, I noticed the tank entering from the northern end of the area.

He paused for a few moments, then started searching the area.

He got rather close to me, but I don't think he spotted me.

Rather, he just turned away and continued the search.

Perfect.

I threw the net off, cranked the turret around and fired.

BOOM!

Of course, the IS-2 survived, but I wagered that it was badly damaged.

After re-starting my engine, I ducked back into cover before it saw me.

I waited for my cannon to reload and then drove back out.

By now, the IS-2 had its gun pointed in my general direction and fired.

Goliath took a serious hit from that one, but I used this opportunity to fire back.

Still, the IS-2 was not destroyed, but judging by the broken left track, I didn't suppose it was doing so well.

I ducked back into cover and waited for the cannon to reload.

However, I got a radio call from the enemy tank:

"It's all over now! We have you cornered, heat lover!"

"No, it is over for you!" I countered. "If you want me so badly, you'll have to come over here and stop me!"

"You first!" they responded.

"No, you first!"

"I said 'you first' first! Now come out of there and die like a hero, heat lover!"

"Very well. Just don't expect me to go quietly!"

I turned my turret to the left and started going out to face my foe.

Naturally, he was expecting this, so he shot Goliath and broke its track.

Speaking of tracks, the broken track on that IS-2 had been repaired by the time I came out.

Guess the crew repaired it while I was in cover.

That aside, though Goliath's track was severed, Goliath was still operable, so I took aim and…

BOOM!

I finished off the IS-2!

As usual, I investigated my freezing foes.

True to their nature, they were known as "The Winter Warriors", a hardy gang who was one with Old Man Winter.

I'm sure that if a particularly heavy blizzard came along, then it wouldn't be much trouble for them.

As we have seen, a great deal of them used T-34s, but they also had an American medium tank called a Ram-II.

Actually, it probably wasn't American.

See, I investigated the Ram-II crews and found that they had a maple leaf insignia on their uniforms.

When I checked their identification, I found that they weren't American, but Canadian!

Hmmm…I never particularly thought of Canada as being a major player in this conflict.

Moving on, I found out that a tank that I had thought was a T-34 wasn't really a T-34; it was an up-armored variant called a T-43.

All that armor wasn't much good against the 152mm cannon, but the T-43 could mount a variety of cannons, including the D-10T.

And finally, the new tank destroyer that I spotted was called an SU-152.

It was based on a KV-type chassis and mounted a 152mm ML-20 howitzer, though it was capable of mounting other guns as well.

Suddenly, I had another revelation:

Around the time of the fall, I had heard rumors about a fearsome new weapon.

They called it "Zveroboy", the "Beast Killer".

It was said that it had enough power to blow a turret right off a tank.

This had to be the one they were talking about!

Goliath was equipped with a similar weapon, but I didn't always blow off a tank's turret with Goliath's weapon.

Whatever the case, I knew that this was something that I didn't want to be caught on the wrong end of.

Before I left, I acquired a note from the commander of the IS-2:

"Agent 813:

Congratulations on maintaining control of the northern sector. You are truly a valuable asset to our clan. However, there are still pockets of resistance to the west, near the Barents Sea. If our grand plan is to be fulfilled, then it is required that you eliminate all who would dare to conspire against us.

Remember, the light of glory shines brighter than all the stars. Make us proud.

-With regards,

W.G."

Him again!?

Wow, these guys are more serious than I thought.

Or…at least they were.

Well, so much for their so-called "light of glory"!

Unfortunately, despite the field repairs that I did to Goliath, I felt that it was too damaged to keep going.

After all, who knows what's waiting for me in Western Scandinavia?

So, I went back home for the time being.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	27. Snowblind

When I got back to my hideout, I was in for a rude surprise:

The KV-3 was no longer there.

I searched everywhere around my hideout for the tank, but to no avail.

On the one hand, I was outraged that one of my war trophies had been stolen, but on the other hand, maybe I didn't need it anyways.

I simply pushed the issue aside and drove Goliath back into my hideout.

Inside, I discovered that some sort of garage door had been installed in the back wall.

Intrigued, I opened the door, which led to the mineshaft that I'd blocked off many moons ago.

In here, someone had dug in three spaces for additional tanks and had put up a wall a bit further down.

In each of these spaces, there were the following tanks: The KV-3, a KV-1 and a KV-type chassis with a different turret.

I saw a note affixed to the mystery tank, along with a page, so I checked both out.

The note was neatly handwritten and merely said: "You're welcome".

Could it be…?

Who knows?

Now, the page was an information sheet that had information on the mystery tank, which was called a T-150.

The T-150 was simply a KV-1 with improved armor and firepower.

The one I had been given was outfitted with a 107mm ZiS-6 gun.

As for the KV-3, this one used a 122mm D-2-5-T.

I had no use for the KV-1, having driven one extensively already.

I was intrigued by one thing, though:

When I had converted Goliath to its present state, I kept its old KV-1 turret for reasons that even I'm not entirely sure of.

Now, how did I get an entire tank out of that?

Did my mysterious benefactors have a spare KV hull for it?

Whatever the answer, I decided that I would give the other two tanks a try.

For now, though, Goliath was fulfilling my needs.

It did need a little extra something, though, so after repairs & maintenance, I beefed up the armor in critical sections of the tank.

The problem with this, though, was that it slowed the tank down even more, so I added a supercharger to the engine for a little extra power.

I also thought that my camo net needed a "winter" scheme, so I painted some white stripes on one side of it and waited for it to dry.

After this, I headed back on my original path.

* * *

Going through Karelia and the Mannerheim Line, I only encountered a few members of the Soviet-American Alliance & Winter Warriors, so it wasn't too tough to pick up where I left off from.

Unfortunately, soon after I crossed the Mannerheim Line, the snowstorms turned vicious.

Now, I was used to tough winters and all, but even this was too much for me.

I needed a good shelter from the snow.

Through the snowstorm, I could see the outline of something.

I knew it could mean shelter, but I also knew it could mean death.

However, I was more than willing to take that chance.

I gave the engine all it had and headed over there.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a cave, and even more fortunately, the cave was large enough to fit both me & Goliath, so I drove Goliath backwards into the cave.

Once my old friend was safe & sound, I covered the entry to the cave with the camo net, winter side out.

Now, I just had to wait for it to stop snowing.

That was easier said than done.

It snowed viciously for the next couple of days.

Every so often, I had to dig away the snow in front of the cave to prevent myself from being trapped.

Eventually, I ran out of food, so I had to find another source of food.

I discovered that the snowstorm had let up by this time, so I went searching for food.

Eventually, I came upon a deer.

I approached it carefully and took aim with my Tokarev.

The first bullet didn't stop it, though, so I just emptied the magazine and killed it.

Afterwards, I dragged its carcass back to my hideout, skinned it, cut it up, cooked a slice of meat and ate it.

I put away the rest of it for later.

To prevent the meat from going bad, I buried it in a pile of snow to keep it cold.

Having killed this deer, I decided that I needed a better weapon for killing deer or other game that I might come across.

I still had plenty of deer meat, but I decided that it couldn't hurt to be prepared now.

Leaving my hideout, I discovered a tree half-buried in the snow.

I broke off one of the branches and brought it back.

I cut off any smaller branches from that and sharpened the end of it to make a spear.

As for the smaller branches, I saved them for firewood.

Eventually, as the choice cuts of deer meat were used up, I decided that it was better not to let the carcass go to waste.

To this end, I decided to make a stew out of the deer's organs, including the heart and stomach.

Good thing I had a collapsible cooking pot on hand.

I'd hate to use my steel helmet for this.

Anyways, the stew tasted pretty weird, but it did the job.

When the deer carcass was used up, I buried the rest and thanked it for the meals it provided, that one day it would rise from the earth, to regenerate and begin life anew.

Having consumed whatever I could, I decided to go hunting for some more food.

It took a while, but I found another deer eventually.

I carefully moved in, raised the spear and threw it as hard as I could.

Unfortunately, I missed.

The deer started to run, so I fired two shots from my Tokarev at it.

I didn't kill the deer, but I certainly incapacitated it, so I stabbed it with the spear and finished it off.

While I was dragging it back to the cave, though, I heard a rumbling in the distance.

I looked around and saw the faint outline of a tank in the distance, so I ducked down and tried to hide myself as best as I could.

When it got closer, I noticed that it was a T-34 belonging to the Winter Warriors.

I don't think it saw me because it just kept driving.

So, I dragged the deer's corpse back to my hideout and did my usual round of skinning & cooking.

In the distance, I could hear cannon fire.

When the cannons ceased, I went outside and check for any tanks passing by.

Eventually, I saw two T-34s passing by, both belonging to the Winter Warriors.

Again, neither one saw me.

So, I went back to my usual routine.

* * *

That night, I had another one of those dreams with the shadowy figure.

At this point, I figured that it couldn't just be an odd happening.

There had to be some significance to this dream.

Was it some sort of deep psychological trauma?

Or was it some sort of inner demon trying to speak to me?

I was too tired to figure this out, so I just went back to sleep.

When I woke up, I heard some sort of growling noise.

All of a sudden, I noticed that a wolf had gotten into my food stores and was trying to devour it.

Carefully, I aimed my Tokarev and fired.

The bullet didn't kill the wolf; it just made the wolf angry.

I fired a couple more bullets until it was dead.

Rather than bury the creature, though, I was curious:

What did wolf meat taste like?

Thus, I skinned the wolf, cooked some of its meat and ate it.

It was quite tough, but it was tasty, nonetheless.

Hmmm…maybe I should start incorporating more snake and wolf meat into my diet.

Besides, I was pretty bored with deer.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**

**NOTE TO THE ASPCA: This is a work of fiction. No real animals were harmed during the production of this fanfic.**


	28. Hot Heavy Water

Approximately two months had passed by and I was doing pretty well for myself.

Sure, there were times when food and firewood had practically run out, but overall, I was doing better surviving in the cold of winter than I was in the heat of the desert.

By now, I decided that the time for vicious snowstorms had passed and that it was OK to continue forth.

I removed the camo net from the entrance to the cave and strapped it back to Goliath.

Once that was done, I took some of the meat with me, packed it in an improvised icebox for the journey, and headed on.

I bypassed Sweden and instead went directly to Norway via the northwestern border of Finland.

While fuel dumps weren't as ubiquitous as the Swastika, they weren't in short supply, either.

Aside from these supply stashes, the landscape of Norway was absolutely pristine, as if the apocalypse had never happened.

It was so beautiful, in fact, that it made me cry.

It was probably the first time that I'd cried in a long while.

I wasn't crying a whole lot, mind you, but it wasn't a minor sob, either.

However, it actually felt liberating, in a way, and I felt a bit more confident after I did it.

Pressing on, the relative tranquility of the surrounding area was interrupted when I was attacked by some German tanks.

I noticed that they had a black shield insignia with some sort of design on it

Where have I seen that before?

I soon realized that this meant that I was facing one of the infamous SS panzer divisions.

Having realized that, I decided to be more careful.

Actually, despite being an SS division, they weren't too tough.

They did have a Panther and a VK 3001, though that was the full extent of the danger posed to Goliath & me, aside from an artillery gun, of course.

Goliath simply shredded everything else, and in the case of lesser tanks such as a Panzerjäger I, ran into them or ran them over and crushed them.

Having routed them thoroughly, I decided to find out which division they belonged to.

These guys were part of the SS panzer division "Vidkun Quisling", named for the infamous Nazi-sponsored president who ruled Norway prior to the breakdown of order.

Though they were primarily a German company, some of their members were Norwegian volunteers.

Fittingly enough, a few of their tanks were foreign-built models such as the SOMUA S35, plus some Czech-built tanks.

One was a light tank called a T-15

Another was a medium tank called a T-25.

All of a sudden, I got quite angry.

Why?

Why!?

WHY!?

Why are non-Soviet tanks using designations with the letter "T"!?

Are the others trying to deceive us!?

Then again, maybe not.

In any case, I pressed forth, trying to avoid further enemy confrontations.

At a certain Fjord in southern Norway, I saw another set of the SS panzer division "Vidkun Quisling" taking on an unknown enemy force.

The opposing gang was composed of a mix of American, Canadian and French tanks, plus two British tanks in Soviet colors.

Though the Germans were putting up a good fight, their opponents had better equipment, so they eventually prevailed over the SS panzer division.

Meanwhile, since I was waiting for one side to decimate the other, I decided to take on this mysterious coalition.

That was easier said than done.

Though many of their tanks were of an equal or lesser tier to Goliath, they also had heavy tanks such as the T29 and the AMX M4/1945.

Except for a French tank destroyer and SPG, though, these guys didn't have anything that I hadn't seen before.

After blowing up the SPG, I turned to find the Terrible 29 and the AMX M4/1945 bearing down on me.

At that point, I thought Goliath & I were done for, but all of a sudden, somebody blew those two tanks up!

They also made mincemeat of the rest of my opponents.

Pushing Goliath as hard as I could, I tried to dodge the crossfire and get into hiding.

Nobody else targeted me, though, so I hid in a nearby town until the shooting stopped.

By now, an ordinary tanker would've fled this place entirely, but I still wanted to find out who the coalition was.

They were called the "Telemark Expeditionary Force", a special task force commissioned for the liberation of Norway, which naturally started in the Telemark region.

Actually, when I found a message on the commander of the T29, I found that they actually had ulterior motives:

"MESSAGE TO LIEUTENANT SANFORD FROM ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF MARSHALL:

The development of substitute materials is well underway. However, our agents report that the situation in Europe has become terribly unstable. Owing to this situation, German material production is likely to have become more closely guarded. One material that we are especially interested in is deuterium oxide, also known as 'heavy water'. Intelligence reports indicate that Norway is one of the foremost producers of heavy water in Europe.

Your mission is to organize a special task force in order to cripple Germany's heavy water production capabilities and to seize a few supplies for our own purposes. This mission is to be organized under the pretense of liberating Norway from German Control. Nobody else but you and your crew are to know of the mission's true purpose.

Remember, should you or any of your crewmen be caught or killed, the secretary of defense will disavow any knowledge of this mission.

Good luck, Lieutenant.

-Sincerely,

George Marshall,

US Army Chief of Staff"

Heavy water?

What's that supposed to do?

And if this mission is supposed to be top-secret, then why was he even carrying this message around?

Also confusing was that the Soviet tanks in the force were being operated by American crewmen.

Ah, maybe they were just on loan.

After all, the Americans did start that Lend-Lease Program.

Furthermore, the new French vehicles may not have been as French as I thought.

Their tank destroyer was based on the chassis of a tank called the FCM 36, but the gun was a PaK 40, a German gun.

The SPG was based on the Char B1 chassis, but its 105mm cannon, an leFH 18, was also German in origin.

Those two tanks were painted in French colors (barring the TEF insignia), so why the German-made guns?

With some new questions in my head, I started my journey back home.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	29. The Alliance Strikes Back

Having conquered Scandinavia, I started going home.

For the most part, the trip was smooth.

Since the snow melted, I didn't have to contend with the Winter Warriors anymore, so I could cross the Mannerheim Line without any problems.

When I tried crossing Karelia, though, that's where the trouble began.

The Soviet-American Alliance was back in force, and this time, they were really mad.

I wasn't too worried at first.

After all, they did start off by sending an M8A1 just like they did last time.

They also had a Tetrarch, which wasn't too tough for me to handle, though I was a little suspicious because they didn't have any last time.

My suspicion increased when I spotted an M10 tank destroyer.

Wait…did they replace some of their tanks before this engagement?

If so, then what else did they have awaiting me?

If they were as easy to destroy as the M10 proved to be, then I was fine with that.

However, since my last engagement with them wasn't exactly a walk in the park, I doubt that all of their tanks would be this easy to take on.

While I did go up the hill, I only bothered to take out one tank – a T-28 – while overlooking the northern area.

Since they didn't have any SPGs, I decided to turn Goliath around and pick off tanks that tried to engage me from the bottom of this hill.

A few moments later, an M2 medium tank showed up, followed by a KV-2 with a 107mm ZiS-6.

Knowing that the KV-2 was the greater threat, I targeted that one first.

BOOM!

Enemy vehicle knocked out!

The M2 fired at me, but it didn't even scratch Goliath.

I was more concerned about an incoming KV-3, though, so I backed away anyways.

The M2 attempted to flank me, but I didn't want to waste a shell on him, so I finished the tank off with a grenade instead.

As for the KV-3, I had to get crafty, so I drove Goliath forward a little.

It took a shot at me, but the KV-3 missed.

With its attention drawn, I drove back down to engage the KV-3.

Thankfully, its gun was still pointed uphill, so I took aim and fired.

BOOM!

The KV-3 wasn't killed, of course, but for some reason, it failed to respond for a moment.

I couldn't possibly have killed the entire crew with that shot, so I figured that I might have killed the gunner or another crewman responsible for rotating the turret.

In any case, I just sat there and lined up for another shot.

All of a sudden, somebody else hit me, but who!?

Rather than finding out, I sighted in on the KV-3, whose cannon was turning in my direction, albeit more slowly than usual.

Of course, I destroyed the tank before it could get in another shot.

As for my mysterious "friend", it was an M7 medium tank.

No problem!

However, since it was quite close, I used an anti-tank grenade to dispose of it rather than using the cannon.

When the cannon was reloaded, I took aim and wiped out a T-127.

I pressed forward, but then I came upon another tank – an M4A3E8.

It was quicker on the draw than I was, so it ended up hitting me first.

I took aim at it…but I couldn't!

The turret was stuck!

I was angry at this, but I just backed into cover and along with the crew, hammered away at the turret ring.

Eventually, we got Goliath's turret going again, but it wouldn't turn as fast as before, and considering how slow one of these usually turned, we had to be careful.

Nevertheless, we hit the Easy Eight real good, and while it was not destroyed, a resulting fire finished it off.

Instead of pressing further, I turned Goliath around and headed for that hill.

It was a good thing, too, because I sighted a KV-13 just before going behind that hill.

I jammed Goliath in reverse and aimed for a quick shot.

The KV-13 got first shot, but Goliath wasn't horribly damaged.

When I fired back, the KV-13's track was severed.

With that, I drove Goliath uphill to attack it again.

Because the turret wasn't going so fast, I had it rotated to the left a bit more so that it would take less time to aim at the enemy tank.

By the time I'd gotten to the top, the KV-13's crew had fixed the track, but that didn't matter because…

BOOM!

He was gone!

I took another look into the open area to see if anyone else was on patrol for me.

I spotted a KV-3 coming from the east.

It didn't appear to have spotted me, and in fact, it was about to disappear behind a rock when I hit it.

Because I had most likely given away my position, I turned around and started going back down the hill.

However, before I went down, an M6 heavy grazed Goliath with a shot.

I didn't have time to reload, so I used my last grenade on it.

The M6 wasn't dead, but it was immobilized, giving me more time to get away.

Approaching the eastern hill, I saw a tank destroyer of some sort defending the hill.

Its first shot missed, as did mine, so it simply retreated behind a rock.

I was low on ammo from my encounter with the SS panzer division "Vidkun Quisling", so I couldn't afford to miss any more shots.

I kept going, hoping to get ahead of that M6 before the crew fixed its track.

I knew it was risky to engage the tank destroyer at close range, but my tank was still holding together, so I pressed on.

Predictably enough, when I rounded the corner to take on the tank destroyer – an SU-85B – it hit my tank and damaged it.

However, Goliath made short work of it.

At the top of the hill, I spotted an SU-85 looking west, so after the cannon was reloaded, I capped that one off, too.

I then took up a defensive position and awaited the remaining tanks.

Surprisingly, they both emerged at the same time from the south.

Not sure of who to take on, I simply aimed between the two and fired.

The shot ended up hitting the M6 and destroying it, and the splash damage from the explosion broke the KV-3's track.

I backed away a little should the KV-3 spot me.

After the cannon was reloaded, I emerged from cover to find the KV-3 moving again.

Apparently, the crew got the track fixed in no time.

Having seen me, it stopped and took a shot at me, which hit and did some serious damage.

Thankfully, I managed to get the gun sighted in, so I took aim and fired.

BOOM!

All enemy vehicles destroyed!

Having wiped out the Soviet-American Alliance a second time, I took Goliath back home for its usual round of repairs and maintenance.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	30. Road to Ruinberg

I was feeling very confident in my abilities as a tank driver, so I decided I needed to set my sights a little higher.

This time, I set my sights on Germany – the lion's den.

I wasn't completely sure of what awaited me, but I was sure I could handle it.

My first stop in the heartland of the Third Reich was a bombed-out city with a field to the east of it.

At the city limits, I saw a sign that said "Wilkommen in -berg"*

The sign had been damaged, so I didn't get the city's entire name.

Thus, I decided to call it "Ruinberg".

It was a fitting name, given the general condition of the city.

First, I was sighted by an A-20.

However, thanks to careful aim and a quick trigger finger, I mauled the A-20.

After careful analysis, I decided that it was better to flank left or right into the city rather than to go straight to the heart of it.

Hopefully, this maneuver would also give me some added protection from the artillery strikes that my foes had unleashed.

With little thought, I went left, which, according to my instrumentation, would put me at the south of the city.

Suddenly, a T-34 popped out of the city from the right!

For a moment, I got a good look at the emblem on the tank:

Instead of the usual red star, it was a red wolf's head with yellow outlines.

Almost immediately, I knew that I was facing The Red Wolves.

I had never faced them before, but I had heard a few things about them: They were hard-line Stalinists and were said to be one of the more dangerous tank companies.

In fact, there were some rumors floating around about them too.

Regardless of which ones were true or not, there was one truth: People who ran into them never came back again.

Thus, I decided to be more careful.

In the meantime, I destroyed the T-34 with a single shell.

Before proceeding any further, though, I briefly hopped out of Goliath to check the intersection.

Satisfied that nobody else was going to tag me as I crossed it, I drove on, missing another artillery shell.

Just as I was about to take a right into the next intersection, I spotted another KV-2 with…an M-10!?

I froze for a brief moment.

Never in my entire career had I ever seen another KV-2 equipped with the 152mm!

It was almost like a mirror image of me!

The only difference between Goliath and this tank, though, was that – as with the other tanks of the Red Wolves – it was painted in a primarily tan "large spot" camouflage scheme, similar to what certain units in the western Soviet Union painted their tanks in.

Goliath was still painted in ordinary green paint.

Anyways, the opposing KV-2 fired a shot at me, which, although it missed, came too close.

I could even feel the blast wave from inside Goliath!

Now I know how my foes felt when they were facing me off.

Combined with the surprise of seeing another KV-2 with the same gun as mine, and my heart rate had gone up.

Never before had battle ever gotten me so agitated!

Despite my agitation, I managed to get the gun aimed properly at the other KV-2 and…

BOOM!

Scratch another bad guy!

After destroying him, I made a right turn down the intersection, my heart still beating wildly.

Another T-34 popped out of an intersection to the left, which only added to my fury.

He fired, but only did minimal damage.

When the cannon was loaded, I didn't take a lot of time to aim; I just fired and killed the tank.

I tried to keep my head clear, but I was still pretty shocked, so I took a deep breath and backed away a little.

While it didn't totally calm me down, it did seem to help.

With my gun reloaded, I pressed forward, only to encounter a KV-1S.

I was all ready to aim at it and fired…

BOOM!

Surprisingly, just as I fired, a T-34 got in the way and took the brunt of the round, saving the KV-1S at a cost to its own life.

That was also pretty shocking, but the shock of that wore off because I realized, "Hey, as long as I've eliminated one of their tanks, then why should it matter which one I've killed?"

In the city streets, I had some cover from artillery, but each shell that hit a building damaged it even further – not that they weren't already damaged, of course.

Nevertheless, given how Goliath had fared against a KV-1S, I felt pretty good about pressing onwards.

Sure, going around a corner was risky when they were expecting you, but I had Goliath's gun ready and a quick trigger finger, so I killed the KV-1S with no problems.

Pressing further, I decided to make a right, but not before verifying that the intersection was clear.

Satisfied that it was, I kept driving, and it was a good thing too because two ISes had just emerged from around a corner way ahead of me.

Unfortunately, I don't think I did so well going around this corner either, because I encountered another IS.

However, this one had a different turret, a low, dome-shaped one, in addition to a hull with a "pike"-shaped front.

It was here that I realized something:

That's the IS-3!

That handbook didn't have a misprint!

I now comprehended that I was in deep trouble.

The IS-3 confirmed my fears when it fired a shot at me, severely damaging Goliath and shattering a track.

Naturally, I fired back, but given the nature of the IS-series tanks, it didn't die with that one shot.

While it did back away a little, it didn't retreat.

Instead, it opened fire again…

BOOM!

Goliath was destroyed for the third time in its life.

Again, while my armored suit saved me, I certainly felt the power of the blast.

Maybe the suit's losing its effectiveness.

Regardless, I'd been through this before, so until the IS-3 turned away, I played dead and jumped out of the tank when it turned away.

I got an anti-tank grenade ready, when all of a sudden…

"This is Lieutenant Petrushkin!" shouted another tanker from behind me. "We have you surrounded! Remove your weapons or you will be destroyed!"

How did I fail to hear that tank sneak up on me!?

Guess it was the adrenaline talking.

I stood there trying to think of any way to get out of this.

I could throw the grenade at the IS-3 anyways, but then the tank behind me would tear me apart.

I could try to throw the grenade at the tank behind me instead, but there was a good chance that he'd destroy me first.

No matter what I thought of, I was going to be destroyed, so instead, I just resigned myself to the fact that there was no way out of this.

It was a very bitter pill to swallow, especially since I'd always made it through tough situations before.

Oh well, I guess maybe I was tired of fighting anyways, so I should just go along with this and see what I can do.

In the meantime, I shouted, "OK, you got me! Don't shoot!"

I calmly put the pin back in the grenade I had out and dropped it on the ground.

I also removed my equipment belt, which included my Tokarev, ammo & extra grenades, and dropped that, too.

Then, somebody released a cloud of gas.

I tried to stay awake, but it was no use.

I could feel the darkness taking hold of me…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	31. Plennik

Some time after I fell asleep, I started having another dream about that shadowy figure.

It was bad enough dreaming about that thing, but when I was unable to wake up from it, that made it even worse.

Luckily, I woke up before it became a huge problem.

When I came to, I found myself in a dimly-lit room, tied to a chair.

There was a guard and an officer in the room with me.

As I was waking up, I heard them talking:

"…look at him! He shouldn't even be alive right now!"

"Patience, efreitor, all of our questions will be answered when he wakes up! Ah, I think he's waking up now!"

When I woke up, I felt pretty funny.

That's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my armor anymore.

Damn, they must've removed it when I was still asleep!

Even worse, they knew what I looked like now!

That aside, after I woke up, the officer started talking to me:

"So, you've survived the destruction of your vehicle, huh? Impressive feat for you, tanker, but that's where it ends! Now, you're going to tell us what we want to know!"

The guard spoke to me next:

"You remember me? I remember you, man!"

"Efreitor Galushko, you know this man?" reacted the officer.

"How could I forget him? I still remember that day he engaged us at Malinovka! His tank was like a steel wall! We couldn't stop him! I saw many of my comrades die right before my own eyes because of this bastard! I was one of the lucky ones who got away, but as I was leaving, I saw two of our tanks crushed beneath his treads! Don't you understand, lieutenant, that this man is a monster!? Don't you get it?! He'll get us next! He's going to…"

"All right, take it easy, efreitor! We understand how dangerous he is, but look, he's tied up! He can't possibly do any more harm to us! Rest assured, we will get everything we want to know from him and then he shall be taken care of properly! Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

The lieutenant then turned to me:

"Now then, your armored suit certainly was impressive, but it didn't look blast-proof. So, how then did you manage to survive the destruction of your tank?"

"I'll never tell!" I replied.

BOOF!

The efreitor gave me a swift punch in the face.

It really hurt, but I don't think he broke anything.

"Let me ask you again," said the lieutenant, "how did you survive the destruction of your tank?"

"I said, I won't tell you!"

BOOF!

Another punch to the face!

This one hurt worse than the previous one.

"How did you survive the destruction of your tank!?" said the lieutenant. "Answer me, now!"

"Look, I already told you, I refuse to answer the damn question! Hell, I don't even know how I survived!"

The efreitor had another punch lined up for me, but the lieutenant grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"OK, that won't be necessary, efreitor! It's obvious that he won't answer this question, so there's no use in trying!"

"But lieutenant, this man is bluffing! I'm sure of it!"

"He could be, Galushko. However, let's save this question for later and maybe he'll be more compliant!"

"Yes, sir."

"OK, let's try a simpler question," said the lieutenant. "What is your name?"

"I don't have one!" I told him.

BOOF!

Rather than going for my face, the efreitor had delivered a blow to my stomach.

It was a good thing I hadn't eaten anything for a few hours, otherwise I would've vomited it all over my captors!

Eh, better than all over myself, I guess.

Still, the pain felt like it was gonna be with me for a while.

"I don't want to ask you again, but I will keep asking until I get what I want!" said the lieutenant, "Now, what is your name…no, wait! Don't answer that one!"

The lieutenant paused for a moment, then continued:

"Now that I think of it, some of our troops reported seeing a name painted on your tank. If I'm correct, it was…Goliath? So, is that your name, prisoner?"

"No, that's just my tank's name," I replied. "I told you, I myself don't have a name!"

BOOF!

Another punch to the nose!

This one hurt so much that I think the efreitor broke it.

It was probably nothing compared to what I could potentially be facing, though.

"Look, prisoner, I am tired of your stubbornness!" said the lieutenant. "If you don't cooperate with us, then you are going to be facing VERY serious consequences! Now, answer the question: What is your goddamn name!?"

"I said, I DON'T HAVE A NAME! Go ahead and keep beating me! In fact, keep beating me until I'm blue! You'll never get a single piece of information from me, do you hear!? NOTHING!"

BOOF!

The efreitor punched me really hard in the stomach this time!

He was about to unleash a flurry of blows when all of a sudden…

BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!

An alarm went off and someone sent a message over the PA system:

"Attention all guards, there is a prisoner uprising in progress! All available guards, please report to the cell block area! I repeat, all available guards please respond! Prisoners are armed and very dangerous! Use caution!"

"Efreitor, go deal with the uprising!" ordered the lieutenant. "I can watch over our prisoner for the time being!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

With that, Efreitor Galushko went to deal with the prisoner uprising.

Now, speaking of prison, I had a little reflection I'd like to share with you:

I remember growing up during the Stalinist Era.

During this time, I was lucky enough to avoid getting caught in any of his purges.

See, despite the state media's attempts to cover everything up, I knew that something was going on, but I kept my mouth shut because I valued my life.

After graduating school, I was faced with two choices:

Either join the Soviet workforce in some capacity, or join the Red Army.

Actually, since there was a two-year mandatory service requirement, I was going to be doing the latter anyways, so I signed up without hesitation.

Now, why did I sign up?

The way I saw it, being a part of the Soviet labor force was boring.

I balked at the idea of fulfilling some meaningless quotas or doing the same damn thing over and over again every day for many years.

To me, it sounded like prison.

I wanted adventure! Excitement!

The Red Army sounded like the perfect solution to me!

At the time, though, I didn't fully comprehend the irony of fighting for a country that stood for that "imprisonment"-style of labor system that I despised in the first place.

Also, at first, the army felt like "imprisonment" given all the rules and regulations I had to follow.

Nevertheless, I felt it was worth it and worked as hard as I could.

Plus, I got to use some interesting pieces of equipment.

Eventually, given my aptitude, my commanders gave me plenty of assignments to choose from.

As you know, I chose the tank corps, and the rest was history.

Looking back on all this, I think I made a foolish mistake.

I don't think I fully comprehended the consequences of all my choices, either.

However, I was not about to just sit back and drown in a sea of regrets…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	32. Pobeg

**A/N: Before we go any further, I'd like to give a shout-out to mm-chan! Without her undying support, the world might never have known just how wonderful a story this is! Anyways, read on!**

* * *

While the other guard was gone, the lieutenant gave a little speech to me:

"Listen, tanker, I understand that you don't want to cooperate. However, if you do give us what we want, then I assure you that the consequences will be less painful to you. Believe me, you do not want to continue with your current course of action. You see, we have ways of getting people to talk, and – as you have just sampled – we can be VERY brutal when people don't cooperate."

During his little spiel, I discovered that the ropes binding me were not as secure as I had originally perceived, so I worked to loosen the ties that bound me, being careful not to arouse the lieutenant's attention.

I felt quite groggy from all the blows I had received, but I still had enough strength to muster through.

Meanwhile, he continued talking:

"Oh, and I wouldn't get my hopes up for your fellow prisoners. See, we knew that they would attempt, and we have prepared accordingly. I'm afraid that our operations will persist for a long time."

"You really think so?" I said.

"Oh, no no no, you're sadly mistaken. See, we don't think, we know! You have no hope of stopping us, you pathetic vermin!"

"How would you know that? Do you actually have a device that measures hope?"

"That is enough out of you! Now, you listen!"

By now though, the alert was stopped and my ropes were suitably undone, so without further talking, I summoned the strength to give the lieutenant a surprise kick and cast off my ropes.

When I was freed, I grabbed my chair and started beating him over the head with it.

I don't know why, but I kept beating him with the chair until it broke.

Naturally, he fell unconscious and was probably dead, but all that mattered to me was that he was unconscious.

With one of my captors out for the count, I grabbed his sidearm – a Nagant revolver.

The Nagant was an antique compared to the Tokarev, but it would do its job for now.

As soon as I grabbed the revolver, the other guy returned.

As he entered the room, he said, "OK lieutenant, the uprising's been suppressed…"

"Suppress this!" I retorted as I took aim with the Nagant.

I shot the guard in the head, killing him instantly.

Afterwards, I checked his body to see if he had anything better than the Nagant revolver.

Fortunately, he had a Tokarev like I did, but it looked like it may have been an older model.

Even so, I was convinced that it would perform similarly to mine.

Having armed myself, I closed the door to the room and locked it so that it would take more time for the bodies to be discovered.

Now that I was free, I needed to escape.

However, before I escaped, I had some business to take care of.

My first order of business was to recover all my equipment.

According to my knowledge, they would either store confiscated equipment in the armory or in its own separate "evidence room".

When in doubt, I just followed any signs that pointed to the armory.

Compared to the room I was being held in, the corridors of the base were better lit.

The corridors were of an austere concrete construction typical of military complexes.

I pressed through this concrete cavern, being careful to check each corner before proceeding.

The base was well-guarded, but I managed to evade most of the security personnel.

At one point, a guard turned around a corner that I was checking and turned in my direction.

I pushed him to the ground and stomped on his neck a couple of times, breaking it.

I didn't have much time to hide the body, so I dragged it away from the intersection a bit.

A little while later, I came to an evidence room.

When I opened the door, I discovered that there was a guard in charge of the evidence room.

I promptly shot him in the head and searched for my equipment.

Luckily, it wasn't too hard to find amongst all the other evidence.

Even better, everything was there: My armor, my sidearm and my supply of anti-tank grenades.

The armor looked beat-up, but I was convinced that it would hold up if things got nasty.

Speaking of arms, I decided that I would need something with more firepower than a Tokarev, so I looked for the armory.

Coincidentally, the armory wasn't too far from the evidence room.

After a little searching though the armory, I found something that would not only do the job, but was also easily portable:

A PPSh-41 submachine gun.

I grabbed one plus some extra drum magazines.

Even better, it used the same ammo as the Tokarev, so it was a nice logistical bonus!

Speaking of bonuses, I also discovered that they had an ample stock of a new anti-tank grenade: the RPG-6.

Over my tank career, I'd been using some different types of anti-tank grenades.

Early on, I carried RPG-40 anti-tank grenades.

After the Ensk incident, I switched to the RPG-43.

As with tank ammunition, I had learned to manufacture these myself when necessary, which was dangerous, but rewarding when it succeeded.

After swapping my supply of RPG-43s with RPG-6s, I was just about to leave when another thought hit me:

I decided that it would be helpful to have some anti-tank mines as well, but I could only carry a few.

After packing the grenades and mines in a canvas pouch, I was just about to leave when a guard entered the armory.

"HEY! You're not supposed to be here…"

BATATATATATATATATATATATA!

I cut him down with my newly-acquired PPSh-41.

My next objective was to destroy any evidence of my identity.

It was very likely that they had photographed me when I was taken in, and I couldn't have anybody knowing what I looked like.

I had sort of forgotten what I looked like, but after all the battle scars I'd received, I was sure I looked like crap.

I hurried to the photo lab, knowing that the alarm could be raised at any moment.

On the way, I spotted another guard.

"Hold it right there…"

BATATATATATATATATATATATA!

One more down!

Soon, I located the photo lab, but when I got there, the alarm was sounded.

"ALERT! Prisoner escape in progress, I repeat, a prisoner has escaped! Prisoner ID is #81310! Subject is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous! All available guards, please respond!"

I was now running against a clock; it was only a matter of time before I was overwhelmed.

As I entered the photo lab, I shouted at the employees, "All right, everyone out! GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

I fired a couple of shots at the ceiling to drive the point home.

Everyone ran out of there in a panic.

With nobody in the way, I searched furiously for any photos or negatives of me.

My timing couldn't have been better.

They'd already developed plenty of pictures of me, and I was right: I looked like crap.

I tore up the photos & negatives, and just for kicks, I shot up the photo lab.

Afterwards, I put in a fresh magazine and continued on to my last objective:

Escape.

Easier said than done.

I wasn't even sure where the exit was, so I just went wherever there weren't any dead bodies.

Sure enough, there were a lot of guards gunning for me.

I just shredded them like tissue paper.

In contrast, the guards had poor accuracy for some reason.

I wondered: Did they attend the same marksmanship academy as the German _sturmtruppen_?

Whatever the case, the few shots that did hit bounced harmlessly off my armor.

As I progressed through the base, I came across an information center.

This was most likely where they kept all their technical data.

I had stumbled upon a paper goldmine!

I grabbed anything that looked remotely interesting: Tank handbooks, weapon specifications, plus a paper whose title I saw only briefly: "MEMORANDUM #41211".

I didn't have time to read all of this, so I kept running and gunning.

Soon, I entered the science labs.

In the first lab, there was only one scientist conducting an experiment.

When I ordered him to get out, he replied, "Don't shoot, I'm on your side!"

I responded, "My side!? MY SIDE!? Let me get your facts straight: I'm on nobody's side, man!"

"Look, I can explain it to you, I swear!"

"There's no time! You've got to get out of here NOW!"

"Right! See you later…I hope!"

The scientist ran out of the lab promptly.

I shot up whatever experiment he was conducting.

As I progressed through the labs, I ordered all the scientists to get out and disrupted any experiments in progress.

Eventually, I reached my ultimate objective: the motor pool.

After scanning the room for a tank that looked like it was fast, I spotted an A-20 and went for it.

However, there were lots of guards coming for me by this time, so it wasn't easy to get away.

To complicate matters, I took some extra time to sabotage some of their tanks.

Here's what I did: I removed some of the fasteners connecting the track links or I carefully placed an anti tank grenade inside the turret.

In the latter case, I removed the pin a bit on each grenade and positioned it so that if the tank moved, the grenade would topple and detonate.

As you can imagine, this was very difficult to do under fire, but perseverance paid off.

Partly because of time constraints, but also partly because I wanted to leave something for any partisans who managed to escape this tomb, I left a few of the Red Wolves' tanks alone.

During the escape, I could've sworn that a bullet grazed a part of me that was uncovered by armor, but I didn't notice much.

I simply hopped in my A-20 and floored it.

The escape was made even more problematic because the base was covered by artillery, so I had to dodge around a bit.

Luckily, I managed to escape the clutches of the Red Wolves.

However, when I'd driven a fair distance, I started feeling dizzy.

That's when I noticed that I was bleeding!

Damn, they must've grazed me with a bullet!

So, I pulled over in an out-of-the-way area, tore off part of my canvas bag and used it to stanch the bleeding.

I also did whatever I could to fix my nose.

After a slight recovery period, I pressed on.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	33. Sweet Revenge

I headed back to Ruinberg, where I witnessed a couple of German tanks driving away after a battle.

However, that's not what I was concerned about.

I was looking for my old friend.

After a brief search, I found the burnt-out hulk of Goliath.

I immediately stopped the A-20, jumped out and embraced my old friend, crying.

"Oh, I've missed you so much! I'm sorry, Goliath!"

I think I cried even more than I did at Norway.

I knew that, logically, it was silly to get worked up over a machine, but as I've told you before, this was my best friend and we've been through a lot.

After my little crying fit, I sobered up and worked on getting Goliath to a functional state again.

Nobody showed, so once Goliath was functional, I destroyed the A-20 with a grenade and went home.

* * *

Back home, I took a nice, long sleep.

When I awoke, I started working on a lot of things.

First of all, I gave Goliath some proper repairs and made it totally functional again.

Second of all, I needed a new suit of armor because, as you know, my old set was in questionable condition.

After grabbing some scrap metal, I got to work.

In the end, I built a slightly more refined armored suit, which eliminated some weaknesses of the original.

Finally, I needed to do something about my PPSh-41.

Sure, it was compact, but I felt that it might still be a little difficult to handle inside a tank, so I sawed off part of the stock, leaving the "pistol grip" portion intact.

After all that hard work, I decided to relax.

First, I read through one of the tank handbooks I seized.

The book had plenty of new information on Soviet tanks, including: The KV-4, the IS-4, the IS-6 (also known as Object 252), and a tank destroyer called the ISU-152, which was an SU-152 built on an IS tank chassis and with a few more modifications.

With the information in this book, I could go into battle and not be puzzled when I saw a new Soviet tank!

Well…for now, at least.

The memorandum I acquired was also eye-opening:

"MEMORANDUM #41211:

'THE GOLIATH CASE'

Attention all company commanders; it has come to my attention that a certain tanker has been wrecking our cause. Not much is known about the suspect.

What we do know is that our suspect operates a KV-2 armed with a 152mm M-10 howitzer. The tank has the name 'GOLIATH' painted on the turret. Thus far, the suspect has struck against the Armored Shadows & Winter Warriors divisions. This tanker is very ingenious and as such, should be considered extremely dangerous.

Should you manage to kill or capture this man, please report it at once. If this is confirmed, then you shall receive a great reward.

-Regards,

W.G."

Uh-oh, looks like they're on to me!

Given the network that's behind this "W.G.", I don't think I can go out there for too long without being killed!

So, instead of bringing out Goliath, I decided to test out two of the other tanks that I'd bought.

* * *

First, I brought out the T-150.

Except for the increase in firepower, accuracy and armor, it was largely identical to the KV-1, so I stopped using it after a few battles.

I still kept it, just in case it had some need.

Once the T-150 was shelved, I went into action with the KV-3.

I didn't notice at first, but when I checked it out, it appeared that the same people who gave me the KV-1 and T-150 had also repaired this thing.

At first, I was pretty disappointed because the KV-3 felt slower and didn't seem to handle as well as Goliath.

However, it had good accuracy, great firepower (not as much as Goliath, of course), and great penetration.

Hmmm…maybe I could get used to this thing!

At this point, I had a great idea:

I was going to get back at the Red Wolves!

Ordinarily, this would've been a risky choice, but I had a special plan, you see.

For this plan, I painted my KV-3 in the same camouflage scheme as their tanks and also painted their logo on.

Thankfully, I had a picture of one of their tanks plus a document with their logo on it, so it wasn't much trouble.

With that all done, I hopped in to my KV-3 and headed back to Ruinberg.

* * *

While there, I spotted the Red Wolves engaged in battle with a German company.

Perfect.

I tuned the radio until I was on the same frequency as them.

"…we may need reinforcements, over."

Taking a chance, I said: "This is Wolf 17, I'm at the battlefield now, over!", being sure to disguise my voice a little.

The other tanker responded, "Ah, it's good to see you here! Let's go get them, over!"

"OK! Wolf 17 out!"

At first, I played along with these guys, targeting any Germans I spotted.

I wasn't sure, but I saw what appeared to be a Tiger with a different hull.

Regardless, when the time felt right, I targeted a T-34 and blew it up.

Unfortunately, another KV-3 spotted me and scolded me:

"Hey, that was one of ours!"

I replied with a phony apology:

"Uh…sorry about that! I meant to target a German instead, over!"

He replied: "Well OK, just watch where you're…"

BOOM!

I targeted him and did significant damage to him.

"…Wait a minute, that was no accident! Everyone, watch out! Wolf 17 has…"

BOOM!

I set the KV-3 on fire and destroyed it.

"Wolf Four, what's going on!?" chimed another voice over the radio.

"Wolf Four, respond!"

"Attention all units, Wolf 17 has gone mad! I repeat, Wolf 17 has destroyed some of our own troops! He is driving a KV-3! All units, locate and destroy the traitor, but don't let the Germans get us, either! Wolf Alpha out!"

Well, I guess they're on to me now, so I hid my KV-3 in a bush and carefully searched for a new tank.

I spotted a KV-2 with a ZiS-6.

I jumped on, opened a hatch and gunned down the crew with my PPSh-41.

With the tank under my control, I continued my plan of revenge.

Heading back into the city, I encountered an S-51, which was a heavy SPG on a KV-series chassis.

The ZiS-6 damaged the S-51 severely, but it was still alive, which is not a good thing with such a big cannon pointing at you at close range.

"This is Wolf Ten! Wolf Twelve has gone mad too! Everyone watch out…"

BOOM!

S-51 destroyed!

Next, I got an interesting exchange of messages:

"That's it, I can't trust anyone anymore! Everyone, prepare to die!"

"OK, if you want to do that, then prepare to die, too!"

"Yeah, you too!"

As I had planned, at least to a certain degree, the Red Wolves turned against each other and were now targeting their friends as well as the Germans.

Coming around a corner, I spotted an IS-3, so I targeted it and damaged it.

Naturally, it turned against me, so I backed away, abandoned the KV-2 and ran.

Behind me, I heard the IS-3 destroying the now-abandoned KV-2.

In the meantime, I tried to avoid this bloodbath, making a line back to my KV-3 whenever the coast was clear.

By the time I made it back to my KV-3, the cannon fire had subsided.

Eventually, I encountered the lone survivor: The IS-3.

Without hesitation, I aimed for his lower glacis, and…

BOOM!

Revenge is mine!

Having struck back at the Red Wolves, I went back home, where I re-painted my KV-3 and gave it a round of maintenance.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	34. Hell Hath No Fury

**A/N: I should like to point out that the information about the tanks in this story was correct around Version 0.7.4 or so, hence why certain nationalities of tanks are absent and such.**

* * *

With the Red Wolves out of the picture for now, I decided that it was safe to go back out with Goliath again.

Sure, I'd encountered some pretty tough tanks in the past, and I knew that the stakes could only get higher from there, but I remained confident in my abilities and I rested knowing that my tank's cannon was deadly to even the most high-tech heavy tanks.

Keeping in mind that anything could happen, I pushed into Erlenberg, a village in southern Germany.

This place looked quite picturesque, especially with the layer of snow that had fallen…wait, was it still winter here?

Eh, it seemed quite close to the Alps, so I believe that it could still be winter.

In any case, I analyzed the battlefield.

On my side, there was a hill with lots of trees plus a few houses.

To the west, there was a wide-open area with a line of buildings, some of which had suffered severe damage.

Just ahead of me, on the north side, I could see a path leading to what looked like a bridge.

I knew that bridges like these were likely chokepoints, but I wasn't actually going to cross the thing, just move in, attack and retreat.

Before I crossed the bridge, though, a Panzer III/IV darted across.

Naturally, I destroyed it and pressed further.

Just as I was coming to the corner, I sighted part of a tank destroyer.

I knew that I might miss, but I decided to try a trick shot at it from around the corner.

BOOM!

The unknown tank destroyer was not killed, but its track was certainly shattered and it had certainly taken a seismic amount of damage.

I knew the German tank destroyers were turretless, so I went around a building to its right flank.

When I was there, I finished it off with an anti-tank grenade.

Now that I think of it, that one bore a certain resemblance to the Panther, so there's definitely something to that.

In line with my plans, I fell back to the hills, which was a good thing, too, because artillery fire was coming down near my position.

Some of it was blocked by a building, though, and the rest missed, but one came too close.

However, I moved out of range and took cover in the trees on that hill.

While here, I draped the camo net over Goliath, stopped the engine and looked around for any activity.

The camo net had survived Goliath's previous destruction, but it was somewhat damaged.

I'll make a new one eventually.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, I spotted a squad of three tanks at my back.

This squad was made up of tanks that I didn't recognize at all, though the lead tank looked sort of like a different variant of the Tiger and the middle tank may have been a new variant of the Panther.

None of them saw me, but I held my fire because I spotted a second squad coming in from the northern bridge.

I didn't even need binoculars to spot them because, like their comrades' tanks, their striped camouflage pattern made them stand out against the snow.

This squad was led by a Tiger, followed by an unknown tank and a Panzer IV.

The first squad turned around and started driving south in front of the hill.

The second squad drove past the hill and took the path behind it.

I didn't want to arouse too much suspicion, so when the second squad drove past, I took the camo net off, targeted the Panzer IV and…

BOOM!

Target neutralized!

The second squad came to a halt and looked around for what seemed like ages, but eventually kept driving and didn't appear to have seen me.

The first squad hurried over to investigate with the second squad, but broke off from the group, apparently not having seen anything, either.

I restarted my engine, and again, I waited for the first squad to pass and targeted the rear tank.

BOOM!

Enemy eliminated!

Given how well I was doing, I changed the radio frequency until I tapped into theirs.

"…seen anything? Over."

"Negative, Juno One! We will keep searching until we have found this man! Venus One, are you ready with your squad? Over."

"This is Venus One, we are on standby! Venus One out!"

"Hera One, out!"

However, the voices were those of…women!?

I was absolutely shocked!

I sat there, frozen with horror!

Nothing in the world could have prepared me for this!

I mean, I've gotten plenty of surprises since the collapse, but this was on a whole new plane!

Now, even though the Soviet government had given new rights to women prior to the collapse, I was still pretty much a traditionalist when it came to gender roles.

Even so, I would never, ever stoop to doing physical harm to women!

I felt like an absolute monster because of what I was doing!

On the other hand – putting aside my gender or my tank-driving experience – they seemed competent enough to operate tanks as men did, and if they could fight as good as men, then they were certainly good enough to die like men!

With my pangs of regret tempered, I readied my aim and prepared in case the first squad decided to change direction.

As I had anticipated, the first squad came back in the other direction looking for me.

This time, I targeted the lead tank – the Tiger-like vehicle – and fired.

This tank lost a track, but it was certainly still alive.

"This is Hera One, we have been immobilized and I still can't see our target! Juno Squad, please assist us, over!"

"Hera One, this is Hera Two; I've spotted him! Our target is driving a Soviet KV-2 and is heading downhill now! He's…"

I slammed into the Panther like tank with plenty of force, shattering its track as well.

However, even before that, it fired at me and wounded my tank pretty badly.

Owing to the close range, of course, I destroyed Hera One's tank with an anti-tank grenade.

"This is Hera Two, Hera One is down and we've been immobilized! Our gunner has been hurt, too! Juno Squad, where are you!? Over!"

"This is Juno One, we're almost there! Be careful! Out!"

Rather than destroying Hera Two's tank, though, I headed north in a sort of "zig-zag" fashion to avoid her fire and some artillery shells.

However, because there were two destroyed tanks surrounding her and because her gunner was down, she could hardly get a good shot at me.

In the meantime, I intercepted this message:

"Venus One, this is Juno One! We have located Hera Two and she appears to be damaged badly! We are attempting to repair the damage now! Can you give us some assistance? Over."

"Affirmative! Venus Squad is now checking the area! In the meantime, get out of there! Venus One out!"

"Confirmed. Juno One out!"

While this was going on, I made a risky maneuver and went to the row of buildings near the river.

Having found one that was blown-up, I put the camo net back over Goliath and stopped the engine.

In the meantime, I spotted Venus Squad coming in from the south and going behind the hill.

I couldn't recognize their leader, but I was sure that there was also a Panther and a VK 3001 in that squad.

Eventually, the remnants of the Hera & Juno Squads went to check the village by the river.

Both squads combed the east side, but eventually, they reported in:

"Juno One, this is Venus One. I can't see anything here, over!"

"Venus One, this is Juno One. There is nothing to report in this quadrant, either! Mother, do you have anything sighted? Over."

"Negative, Juno One! Keep searching! Mother out."

"Juno One out."

I waited a few more minutes until Venus Squad came my way.

By that time, I had the turret cranked around, so when that squad arrived again, I threw off the camo net, re-started my engine, and drove out a little.

After that, I aimed for the rear tank, and…

BOOM!

Another one down!

I backed into the building again, but then another radio call changed my mind:

"He got Venus Three! Juno One, he may be near the river, over!"

"Understood, we are heading there now! Juno One out!"

Taking a risk, I left the building and headed for the northern bridge.

Nobody saw me on the way, but when I turned to go on the bridge, I swore I caught sight of one of the others.

"This is Hera Two, I've spotted him! He is heading for the western sector, over!"

"Message received! Everyone, attack! Venus One out!"

"Yes, _leutnant_! Hera Two out!"

If she meant what I thought she'd meant, then I was in deep trouble.

Today, though, was the day that I'd brought an anti-tank mine with me, so I armed it and dropped it behind me.

Some more artillery shells landed towards me, but I avoided them and instead stayed close to the riverbank on the north side.

I got another fortunate radio message:

"This is Juno Two, Hera Two has been destroyed and the northern bridge is out! We're heading south! Juno Two out!"

"Copy that, this is Mother! I have not yet sighted him, but we will do so very soon! Use caution with the other bridges! Mother out!"

By this time, I'd discovered an unknown SPG on the hill with what appeared to be a ball-shaped turret, so I did myself a service and took it out.

Having taken its mantle, I spotted the others coming in from the central area and going around the southern end of the hill.

Rather than targeting them, though, I targeted a JagdPanzer IV that was guarding the southern bridge, and…

BOOM!

All support tanks destroyed!

By now, a fifth tank had joined the group, which was probably "Mother".

This one looked similar to Venus One's tank, but with a large dome-shaped turret and "pig snout" gun mantlet.

It also had the words "DIE LÖWIN"(1) painted on the side of the turret.

Unsure of who to target first, I targeted Venus One's tank and fired.

She was not destroyed, of course, but her track was busted.

Suddenly…

"There he is, up on the hill! Mother out!"

Naturally, I hurried down the hill with a few shells flying by me.

Goliath suffered a couple of hits, but my old friend was still OK.

These ladies were just too good.

Even with most of their tanks taken out, the remaining tanks were still a threat, so I had to come up with a new idea fast.

When I saw the JagdPanzer's corpse, that's when inspiration struck:

After passing by it, I quickly jumped out of Goliath and hooked some tow cables to it.

I got back in and dragged the JagdPanzer's corpse until it rested on the bridge.

I didn't have enough time to collect the tow cables, so I just detached them and left them behind for now.

Since the northern bridge was destroyed and the southern bridge was now blocked off, the surviving tanks had no choice but to cross the center.

Perfect!

With little choice left, my foes attempted to go straight across.

Carefully, I picked away at them, but I slipped up once and took damage.

Another slip-up cost me a track, but since I'd gotten a reprieve, I fixed it up and waited for "Mother".

Come to think of it, why wasn't she at the central bridge?

My waiting ended when she replied: "Foolish chauvinist, did you really believe that your plan could contain me!? Now, face the true power of German women!"

"Woman or not," I replied, "I'll toast you!"

"Ha! I am not moved by your words, Soviet dog!"

I found out that while I was engaging her subordinates, the leader had actually taken time to push the dead JagdPanzer out of her way and go through.

OK, here goes nothing!

Actually, this battle was disappointingly easy for a boss battle.

Despite her cunning, overall the leader seemed to be inexperienced in operating her tank.

Most of her shots missed, which made me wonder if she'd barely driven the lower-tech machines before acquiring this one.

Those that did hit either bounced off the gun mantlet or pushed Goliath close to death.

As usual, though, we won the day.

Unusually, the leader and her crew escaped their tank before it became a coffin for them.

Just when I thought I was done, though, I encountered a Leichttraktor.

Rather than running it over, though, I just drove up to it, stood still and aimed the cannon at it.

Knowing that they could not win, the crew bailed out and ran, shouting insults and threats such as, "SOVIET SWINE!", "WE'LL BURY YOU!" and "YOU WILL BE ENSLAVED!"

After this gut-wrenching battle, I ran my usual checks.

These women were "Die Eisernen Mädchen"(2), a company who believed that men were responsible for the Dark Times and that only a woman's touch was capable of ensuring that the "Aryan race" would rise up and bring peace to the world.

Woman's touch or not, I knew the Germans could only bring hatred and death to the world, but there had to be something more to the madness that had enveloped the globe.

Now, as for their tanks, there were two new prototypes: One designed by Henschel that was called the VK 3601, and the VK 3002, which was designed by Daimler-Benz.

I was right about the supposed Tiger as well: They also had an alternate version of the Tiger that was designed by Porsche.

Speaking of Tigers, they had an advanced model called the Tiger II, which had sloped armor similar to the Panther.

This new Tiger was also nicknamed the "Königstiger", or "King Tiger".

Wait… if this is owned by a female company, shouldn't it be a "Queen Tiger", then?

Well anyways, about the Panthers: They had a tank destroyer version called a "JagdPanther" and an SPG called a "GeschutzWagen Panther", which was odd because SPGs usually lacked turrets (barring our own SU-26, of course).

They also had an advanced Panther called a Panther II.

Finally, their leader's tank was known as a Panzer VII, or "Löwe".

I was particularly lucky to have survived against her because it was equipped with a 105mm KwK 46.

Now that I was done, I collected my tow cables and went home for the usual fixes

* * *

**EN:**

(1): "The Lioness"

(2): "The Iron Maidens"

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	35. Tankers Barely Alive

One night, as I was sleeping, it came back.

I had another one of those dreams about those hooded figures and the ominous chanting.

However, this time, some of them actually spoke to me in an evil voice:

"The key…"

However, I woke up before they said anything else.

"The key?"

What was that supposed to mean?

For now, I decided to push that aside, because I had another assignment laid out:

I was satisfied with the progress I'd made in Germany, so I decided to make an incursion into somewhere else.

All my trips to Germany took a route through Ukraine, so for a change, I went into Byelorussia.

* * *

In a village called Komarin, I sighted an M4 Sherman that looked like it was in poor condition.

It looked as if someone had attempted to repair it, but it still looked crude.

Naturally, it wasn't much trouble for me.

Next, I was attacked by an M24 that also looked shoddy.

However, this one was odd because it looked as if it was equipped with a German gun.

I could tell just by looking at the muzzle brake.

German gun or not, this tank also fell before me.

Compared to my last few battles, this one was quite easy.

The various tanks of this company were in varying conditions, from "diamond in the rough" to just "rough".

Some of them even had unusual equipment loadouts.

Let me tell you about some of the more unusual ones:

There was a Char B1 with its forward howitzer replaced by a Soviet 152mm M-10.

Also, there was a StuG III with a long 88mm gun.

However, the one that took the cake had to be a T-34 that they had.

Sure, they had one with a French 75mm autoloader cannon, but that one looked normal compared to this one.

See, the one I'm talking about was not only equipped with a 107mm ZiS-6, but also a KV-2 turret!

It took one shot at me, but missed!

Furthermore, the recoil of the gun sheared the turret ring, causing the turret to tip over gradually and then suddenly crash to the ground!

I wasn't sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of this contraption or to scorn the creator of this machine for his stupidity.

In any case, there was no need to shoot that thing, as the crew would probably be killed by some less merciful tankers in the near future.

Towards the end of the battle, I got a radio call.

However, I couldn't understand it because it was just a bunch of grunts, groans and other gibberish.

Finally, I encountered a Tiger I, which was in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of his comrades.

Furthermore, the machine was equipped with not one, but two 75mm cannons!

Clearly, whoever created these aberrations spent more time and care on this machine than the rest of them.

The twin cannons also gave it a fast firing rate for a Tiger.

Accuracy was reduced, but the number of shots that landed was disconcerting to me.

Still, I persisted, and after plenty of flanking and dodging, he was destroyed.

Of course, I understood the value of investigating mysterious opponents, but these guys were especially too good to ignore.

Given the unusual state of their tanks, you just don't encounter tankers like these and walk away without asking questions!

Now, after checking them out, I found out that they were named "Frank's Heroes".

These weren't just troops under the command of, but were also the creation of Dr. Franklin Nicholas Stein, a US Military scientist working for the National Defense Research Committee.

Based on my observations, it appeared that this was a sort of secret project where he had taken destroyed tanks and grafted on good parts of other destroyed tanks in order to restore them to working order.

Judging by the mismatched parts, it seemed that Dr. Stein had run short of parts.

Even so, I felt he could've done better than grafting a KV-2 turret onto a T-34!

But wait, he didn't just restore dead tanks, either!

He had also taken the bodies of dead tank crewmen and somehow brought them back to life by attaching good limbs & organs to them!

OK, I can understand repairing dead tanks, but as far as I knew, if a person died, it was impossible for them to come back to life, excluding certain cases where people only appeared to be dead for a few minutes.

Furthermore, a couple of these guys appeared to have bits of flesh falling off their bodies, and not from shrapnel or anything, mind you.

Guess this guy wasn't as good at resurrection as I'd initially believed.

Furthermore, a couple of the tankers had an unusual patch on their uniforms:

"Manhattan Project".

What did that mean?

Whatever it meant, I knew one thing: This Dr. Stein was a very sick man.

I mean, I've heard that German scientists were doing some nasty things, but I'm sure that whatever they were doing could not possibly eclipse what he was doing.

After all, this guy was doing something untried and possibly unsafe with hardly any regard for the rights and welfare of his test subjects!

However, I do admit he appeared to have good metallurgy skills, barring the quality of some of those tanks.

That proves one thing about dead tanks:

We can rebuild them.

We have the technology.

However, Dr. Stein didn't always make them better, faster or stronger.

Then again, I suspected that certain Soviet scientists were guilty of some gruesome things.

All that aside, I went back home, fixed up Goliath and tried to forget about what I had seen at Komarin.

However, I remembered that just because we can make tanks better, faster and stronger…doesn't always mean that we should.

Then again, Goliath had shown me that in the right hands, we can really make them better.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	36. How Deep the Rabbit Hole

After looking through the various blueprints, I found out what type of anti-tank mine I'd taken from the Red Wolves:

It was a TM-41.

As it turned out, there was a more powerful – albeit heavier – version called the TM-44.

And after some tinkering and forging, I was able to manufacture these for myself.

From now on, I thought it would be a good idea to take a few of these with me, just in case.

Then, one night, I got an idea:

I was convinced that whatever had been bothering me over the past few days was somewhere in this mineshaft that I had taken residence in.

I briefly considered leaving this place and taking up residence somewhere else, but I couldn't just give up like this.

Rather, I was going in…

Into the mine.

There was just one problem:

I'd blocked off the mineshaft earlier as a way of establishing my home's boundaries.

However, by carefully removing the bricks that blocked off the rest of the mine and setting them aside, I could now go deeper into the Mines.

After packing extra food, fuel and water, I went into the mine.

It was very dark, but my tank's headlight was bright enough to illuminate the mineshaft.

Even so, navigating the place wasn't easy.

I could hear creaking at some points, so I was afraid that the mine would crumble and Goliath would be stuck forever in an eternal tomb.

At certain points, I was afraid I'd become lost.

To make matters worse, at one point, I'd even heard some evil laughter and a woman screaming in pain.

Sensing this, I pushed Goliath's engine as hard as I could without any regard for the condition of the mine.

However, I went a few ways and could find nothing.

Rather, I emerged atop a hill.

Already, I decided I had a tactical advantage here.

However, there was the matter of what enemy tanks might be down there.

A quick peek over the eastern ledge of the hill didn't reveal much, just the tail end of a T-34 disappearing into a village.

I drove to check out the western ledge, when suddenly, a T-50 swooped in!

Since it was so close, I blew it to pieces.

I positioned Goliath near the entry to the hill in case anyone else showed up.

Also on that matter, I set up some anti-tank mines to block the area off.

Despite the obvious dangers, a few more tanks made the foolish choice of driving up the hill: An A-20, a T-50 and an alternate version of the T-50 called the T-50-2.

Naturally, they all blew up.

When I pushed the other T-50 over, then I had blocked myself in.

Nevertheless, two T-34s showed up and tried to force their way through while firing at me.

They only got a couple of hits and got blown up, becoming part of the roadblock.

Now that I was boxed in, I decided to pick off the rest of them from my own little island.

It wasn't easy, especially considering how fast their light tanks were.

But aside from that, they seemed to have an inhuman sense of where I was.

Often, when I approached a ledge, I found myself being fired upon.

Not all the shots hit, but plenty of them did.

Even so, a number of them bounced.

However, there was one that did significant damage.

Even worse, I found out that the gun would no longer fire!

In anger, I just hammered away at the mechanism along with the crew.

Thankfully, I got the gun working, but I couldn't fix the sights out in the field, so I'd have to be more careful with my shots.

I was also running pretty low on ammo, too, but I picked the rest of my foes off and decided to head back.

Of course, there was just one more of them, and he gave me this radio message:

"HA HA HA! You can't stop us! We'll kill you! KILL! KILL! KILLLLLLLLLLL! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Hey, calm down," I replied, "there's no reason to get all worked up over this!"

He replied: "The prey speaks! We'll get you, prey, HAHAHAHA! DIE! DIE! DIIIIIIIIEEEEE! WHOO! WHOOOOOOOOO!"

I decided I'd had enough of this man's psychotic rambling, so I shut my radio off.

I looked around the hill, but couldn't see anything.

When I got back to the roadblock, though, I saw a couple of the blown-up tanks moving.

Sensing that something was wrong, I backed up.

Soon, a KV-4 came up the hill, having actually managed to drive over the roadblock.

It tried to come after me, but Goliath was a bit faster and more maneuverable than the KV-4.

Bit by bit, the 152mm howitzer chipped away at the KV-4 until…

BOOM!

I win again!

Having vanquished them, I checked to see what company they belonged to.

They called themselves "The Gulag's Rejects", and they were made up of criminally insane people and mutant humanoids that had been living in the Pripyat Marshes.

Some of them carried books with them, mainly works by Nietzsche and the Marquis de Sade, plus a book called "Là-Bas" - titled "Там, внизу" in Russian - by a guy named Joris-Karl Huysmans.

Funny, I thought that Stalin had banned Nietzsche's works due to their alleged connection with Nazism.

Then again, the Rejects' minds work differently, so I'm sure they'd find ways of getting their hands on this stuff.

You know, I think that Dr. Stein may be a nice boy compared to these people, but I'm not sure.

Comparisons aside, I decided that I never wanted to go back here again, even though there was a beach here.

So, I hooked up a T-34 to Goliath and pulled it into the entrance of the mineshaft.

I also detonated some explosives at the entrance to seal it off.

Afterwards, I drove back to my home and re-sealed it, keeping anything or anyone else like the Gulag's Rejects from coming in.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	37. Acid Testers

Unfortunately, my little trip into the mineshaft had no effect on the strange dreams I was having.

The shadowy figures invaded my dreams once again and made a demand:

"The key! The key! Give us the key!"

They've mentioned a key before, but I don't know who they are, what the key is or why they want it.

Perhaps I should just forget about the whole thing.

Maybe I'm due for another vacation.

However, I can't go to Africa again because I'll be cooked.

So, what would be another good place?

Hmmm…why not Italy?

I've never been there before, so I should check it out.

So, after packing extra supplies, I made my way to the South Coast of Italy.

This country was beautiful!

Unlike a lot of Europe, this place was relatively untouched despite some recent invasions.

I also enjoyed looking at the ancient landmarks, too.

However, when I got to one village, I got a nasty surprise:

A lot of the houses there were ransacked; doors broken off their hinges, windows smashed, possessions overturned or missing.

At the beach, there were wooden chairs, umbrellas and wagons that had been overturned or crushed.

From the beach, I could also see a large marble structure, so I went in for a closer look.

Here, I saw a gathering of American & French tanks, some familiar, some unrecognizable.

For example, there was an M6 with a new turret.

There was also an ARL-44 plus some unrecognized French tank destroyers.

That's odd, I didn't think they ran any besides the FCM 36/P40.

I also saw an unusual sight:

The tank crews were stealing various items and loading them into and/or onto their tanks.

That was bad enough, but I noticed something else about these folks:

I wasn't too sure, but there was something unnatural about way they moved.

I didn't know what, though.

Whatever the case, I decided to disrupt their little plans.

Taking aim with Goliath's 152, I fired and killed a bunch of them.

As the survivors rushed to their tanks, I attempted to gun a few down with the turret-mounted DT machine gun.

However, even with the increased accuracy of being on a fixed mount, it was still inaccurate, so I only managed to tag a few more tankers before the rest got to their tanks.

The damage was done, though: With some of those tankers dead, a bunch of those tanks would be operating at reduced potential, and one was even left completely inoperable because its entire crew was dead.

Already, I had a tactical advantage.

However, even with this advantage, I decided it wasn't wise to stay here and attempt to take on all of these tanks now, so I proceeded further down the beach.

When I was doing so, I was attacked by an American tank I'd never seen before.

Judging by the low silhouette, I figured it was a light tank or possibly a small medium.

Whatever it was, it got blown to pieces.

I nearly got blown to pieces, too, when artillery started coming down.

Except for some broken tracks and the Ensk incident, I've been lucky with artillery so far.

Guess spotters aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Regardless, I needed to get off that beach, so I gave Goliath all it had and proceeded to a hill at the southern end of the beach.

However, an M4 was waiting for me here, so I toasted it with the 152.

Hmmm…maybe I should've waited on that one because an AMX-13 was coming at me shortly afterwards.

While I was waiting to reload, it took the opportunity to try to circle me.

It damaged Goliath pretty badly, but I finished it with an anti-tank grenade to stop the madness.

Continuing up the hill, I sighted another unknown American tank, this one being equipped with a double-barreled gun.

It did no damage to Goliath, however, so I finished it off and proceeded further uphill.

Near the top, I sighted an unidentified American SPG plus two unknown French vehicles that appeared to be based on the FT-17 chassis.

The SPG was the bigger threat, so I removed it before running over the French vehicles.

Artillery fire was still coming down on me, so I went to investigate the southeastern sector of the map in an attempt to find any remaining SPGs.

On my way there, I found a BDR G1B, which I terminated.

Not long after, I discovered I was right: There was a French artillery gun of unknown type waiting for me.

Luckily, it wasn't long before the 152mm was reloaded, so…

BOOM!

Enemy down!

On second thought, maybe I should've looked before I fired, because I noticed another Sherman nearby a second later.

Though he hit Goliath, the shot did minimal damage.

Still, I backed off, but that's when I found myself in a little bind:

The tanks that I spotted near the marble building were now catching up to me.

At this point, though, I figured that because I only had one tank coming at me from the front, it was better to take the risk of advancing forwards.

So, I rounded the corner, with a few shells flying past me, got the 152 aimed at the Sherman, and…

BOOM!

Though it took out the Sherman, I think maybe we were a little too close because I certainly felt the blast from that shell.

Goliath & us were still OK, so I guess I shouldn't be too worried.

When an M2 tried to cut us off, I simply used an anti-tank grenade on it.

With him out of the way, we pressed on to a small village and made our stand there.

There were only two tank destroyers plus the M6 remaining.

The tank destroyers, thinly armored as they were, didn't prove too difficult to destroy, but at this range, we missed two shots.

Thankfully, they missed shots as well, no doubt because at least one of them had a dead gunner.

However, the M6 wasn't so easy to destroy.

Usually, I could down an M6 with only one or two shots, but this one took quite a beating.

It also dealt quite a beating, too, but in the end, it was just another victim.

Having disposed of another tank company, I of course went to investigate them.

When I was doing so, I found something unusual:

The crew members were carrying pouches filled with some strange powders & herbs.

Now, who was this company, you ask?

They were called "The Electric Revolutionaries", and as it turned out, the strange substances they were carrying turned out to be drugs.

However, they weren't just a ragtag band of drug addicts, as the following note proved:

"Agent 776:

Now that you have annexed the southern sector, you may now commence Operation Angel Dust. Though I disapprove of your proclivity towards these substances, they will nevertheless prove useful in our grand scheme.

Remember, he is prepared. Keep your minds clear and stay alert.

-With regards,

W.G."

Is this it!?

Has "W.G." sunk so low that he/she/it has resorted to hiring drug addicts to carry out his/her/its grand scheme!?

This is either extremely brilliant or extremely stupid.

Now that I think of it, maybe they weren't just keeping all of those drugs for themselves.

Also, despite their apparent drug addiction, they seemed to be capable of operating tanks just fine, barring any loss of crew members.

About their tanks, now:

As you know, they had a tank destroyer and SPG based on the Renault FT-17 chassis, which were called the FT AC and BS, respectively.

Their other French SPG was known as the Lorraine 39 L AM, which was based off a completely new chassis.

They also had two tank destroyers based off the SOMUA S35 chassis:

The first one, the SOMUA Sau 40, had a layout similar to the Char B1, with its gun mounted on the front of the hull and an autocannon in the turret.

The second, the SOMUA S35 CA, had a more conventional casemate layout with a high profile.

Now, as for the American tanks, they had a light tank called the MTLS-1G14, which was apparently meant for export to the East Indies.

How it ended up here is beyond me.

They also had a new Sherman variant: The M4A2E4, which had a diesel engine instead of the gasoline engine that the Sherman usually has.

Also, what I thought was a light tank was actually another turreted tank destroyer, the M18 Hellcat.

Their new SPG was called an M12.

Finally, the M6 was actually a variant called an M6A2E1, which sported better armor and a turret that could mount a gun from a T29.

Before I went, there was one other thing I had to take care of:

There was an ARL-44 still sitting around, so I took all the drugs I could find and loaded them into this tank.

I wasn't going to be satisfied with merely blowing up the tank though, so I started it up and drove it into the ocean, bailing out before it drove in.

Also, I salvaged any stolen artifacts and returned them.

Satisfied, I went back home.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	38. On Either Side

With my vacation ended on such a weird note, I went back home to give Goliath its usual round of repairs and maintenance.

One night, I had another one of those dreams about the mysterious shadowy figures.

Again, they made their demands clear:

"The key! We must have the key!"

While their demands were clear, the details were still murky.

Just what kind of key could they want?

Given the many locks in the world, I could search for my entire lifetime and not find this damn key.

I probably shouldn't even be worrying about this.

I may need a break or something.

On second thought, perhaps the stress of going out into a strange land and not knowing what's out there is getting to me.

Maybe I should go back to a place that I've already been to.

While I'm thinking of that, why not go somewhere I've already been that nevertheless still posed a risk to me?

I knew just the place:

Ruinberg.

* * *

After all checks were clear, I headed back to Ruinberg, the site of a major event in my career.

I was in luck: There was a battle that was just getting started!

From what I could see, the tanks were about equal to Goliath's level: M4 Shermans, Panzer IVs, T-34s, AMX-13s, etc…

This didn't appear to be a tank company battle, either.

In any case, I decided not to choose a side; I just fired at whoever came into my crosshairs.

At one point, I wrecked an M4A3E8, but the strange thing is, the crew actually got out alive.

I decided to ignore this anomaly and continue fighting.

At one point in the carnage, a T-34-85 struck Goliath, so we cranked the turret around to fire.

Just before we fired, the T-34 struck Goliath's left track, but only damaged it.

We fired at it, and…

BOOM!

However, at that very moment, I caught something out of the corner out of my eye:

Anti-tank infantry with rocket launchers!

Without hesitation, one of my comrades opened fire with the hull-mounted DT machine gun while I tried spraying them with my PPSh-41.

A few guys managed to fire rockets before they were cut down, but none of them hit Goliath.

One of them did, however, hit a Terrible 29 that had just gone over a hill, damaging but not killing it.

It was about this time that Goliath was hit by a Panzer IV, which did no damage.

I was more interested in the Terrible 29, though.

It fired a shot at Goliath and damaged it pretty badly.

In the meantime, the Panzer IV was still firing at Goliath, and since all of these shots were bouncing, it was more annoying than dangerous.

Since I was more interested in that Terrible 29, though, I took aim at that, and…

BOOM!

Now, to work on that Panzer IV.

With rounds still bouncing harmlessly off of Goliath, I approached the Panzer IV and disposed of it with an anti-tank grenade.

Passing by a dead Tiger, I continued doing battle, tearing apart a VK 3001.

Eventually, the fire died down, so I figured that everyone else had been eliminated.

As I was driving away, though, I got the following radio call:

"Ah, there's one I missed! Let's finish this fight!"

Shortly after, I spotted a Tiger!

However, in contrast to typical Tiger tanks, this one was painted in a dull yellow color rather than the typical "German Gray".

I stopped and attempted to sight in my cannon, but this guy was quicker on the draw and managed to hit me first.

Unfortunately, he ducked behind cover before I could sight in again.

I went into cover for a few seconds, too, and then drove back out hoping that the Tiger would, too.

However, after a few minutes, nothing happened.

I smelled a trap, so I turned around and went deeper into the city.

At another intersection, I spotted the Tiger again.

Since his gun was not aimed in my general direction, I took aim and fired…

BOOM!

The Tiger was not killed, but it was certainly damaged heavily.

The Tiger's commander radioed me shortly after:

"That was such a hard hit! I never saw that coming! You may have damaged me badly, but I'm not out yet!"

I then got an idea:

"Listen, whoever you are, you have fought well! Since you have fought so well, I am offering you a truce. If you leave, then I agree to let you live. If not…well, your tank's taken a lot of damage. It's only going to take one more shell for me to destroy you!"

After a few seconds of thought, the Tiger's commander replied: "I accept your truce, Soviet. You too have fought well! I only wish I could meet more people like you!"

"OK then. Enjoy your life, for it is a thing to be cherished!"

"You too! Auf wiedersehen!"

The Tiger limped away from the city.

As it drove away, I noticed the number "217" on its turret.

I reflected on what I had just said to this man.

I really wish I could enjoy life, but it may be too late for me.

Then again, maybe I really should cherish it while I can.

Thinking back on my career, I remembered moments such as the time I went into Norway and witnessed the beautiful landscape there.

The way I figured it, if I can appreciate moments like that, maybe life is worth enjoying even in this carnage-filled world.

Oh, and about that Tiger:

It wasn't until later that I learned that the man I let go was one of Germany's top tankers.

At first, I was pretty angry that I'd let such a prime opportunity slip through my fingers, but on the other hand, maybe I should let a few pass, as long as they're not with "W.G."

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	39. Teutonic Terrorists

I figured it was time to make another trip to Germany, this time, to the northern sector.

Here, I ended up in a small fishing village near the border of Denmark.

It was here that I also witnessed another strange event:

A German company of some sort was conducting some unusual rituals.

I got there just in time to witness a T-34 being blown up by them, not during combat, but as part of the rituals.

However, rather than disrupting the ceremonies, I decided to stay back and observe them for a while.

They appeared to be dressed shabbily, like barbarians, perhaps.

Aside from the dead T-34, they had quite a few Soviet tanks in their stocks.

Most prominently, they had an ISU-152 that was being used as some sort of shrine.

They were making random offerings to it and bowing before it as if it were some sort of god.

Hmmm…maybe they thought this ritual would protect them from destruction at the hands of the machine.

Other Soviet tanks they had were a KV-2 with 152mm, an SU-85, a T-34 with 76mm gun and a KV-1 with what appeared to be a German 75mm.

The KVs and the T-34 appeared to have additional commander's cupolas installed.

The KV-2 also had an odd device attached to the rear, probably a rocket launcher or ammo rack.

Their SU-85 looked unmodified except for paint.

All other tanks were German: Tigers, Panzers, Panthers, etc…

This was a most peculiar company.

Despite the religious nature of the ceremonies, they were not the dark hooded figures I'd been looking for.

I was somewhat disappointed, but then again, considering the mind powers of the other folks, I was somewhat relieved, knowing that I wasn't up against someone more powerful.

I continued to watch the ceremonies until I'd decided I'd had enough.

Once I did, I opened fire, choosing their KV-2 as my first target.

BOOM!

The explosion seemed bigger than usual, no doubt fueled by the device attached to the rear.

Of course, they were in a frenzy to get to their tanks, so I opened fire with one of the DT machine guns while the crew opened fire with another.

However, since we were further away from the other guys, we didn't zap as many of their crewmen.

Oddly enough, nobody took control of the ISU-152.

Good for me, I suppose.

When the 152mm on Goliath reloaded, I took aim at a Tiger, damaging but not killing it.

So, I waited at the top of this hill and attempted to pick off any other tanks until it looked as if they were getting too close.

Having torn up a Panzer IV, I made tail for the main part of town in the east.

To any other tanker, this would've been absolute suicide against a whole group.

However, I came well-prepared for this.

I spent some time covering the entry points to the town with anti-tank mines.

However, as I was doing this, I encountered another unidentified vehicle, possibly a tank destroyer judging by the lack of turret.

Whatever it was, it proved small enough to run over.

I barely even finished setting mines before they started detonating.

Paying attention to which ones had gone off, I drove to a new spot and prepared for any enemies to drive on through.

Most were smart enough to turn away, but a T-25, Panzer III and KV-1 decided that they really wanted my blood, so they tried to push into the town.

In my opinion, the KV-1 was the biggest threat, so I blew it up first.

The explosion also damaged the other two, so I finished the T-25 off with an anti-tank grenade and waited for the 152mm cannon to reload as the Panzer III made a pathetic attempt at trying to kill me with its flak gun, and then toasted it when I was finished.

I waited around for others to try to enter the town, but after a Panther foolishly sacrificed itself, it appeared that they'd had enough with trying to catch me there.

After heading north, I caught a round from an SU-85 hiding in a bush, but Goliath didn't take too much damage, so I simply finished it off and hid in another bush while the others looked for me.

A few moments later, a T-34 showed up, but I held my fire because I spotted a Tiger coming in afterwards.

I shut the engine off and waited.

When the Tiger was in suitable range, I fired a round and hit it.

However, this may not have been the same one I tagged earlier because it survived the 152 shell.

Having done that, I started up Goliath's engine, backed off and threw down the last mine I had on the road beside the bush.

I drove away with the T-34 in pursuit.

A shot tagged Goliath's turret, but didn't do too much damage.

As I'd expected, the T-34's pursuit of me was so determined that it didn't notice the mine and got blown up.

Of course, I was in such a hurry to get away from the T-34 that I almost didn't notice the Tiger.

I was a faster shot than it, so I blasted it and put it out of action.

I was going to press further, but when I spotted a Panzer III/IV coming in with the other Tiger, I decided to fall back.

Compounding the problem, there was an unseen opponent firing upon me.

Goliath took a couple more hits, but the old machine was still operable.

The Panzer III/IV tried to cut me off, so I destroyed it with a grenade.

The other Tiger soon caught up to me, at which time…

BOOM!

Only one more to go!

After a risky search, I finally located a JagdPanzer IV and wrecked it.

Now, who were these folks?

They were the Vandal-Visigothic Strike Force, a largely nomadic company, who, like their namesakes, just went around destroying and pillaging.

Though originally hailing from southern Germany, they headed up north when the southern regions were exhausted.

As we also witnessed earlier, when not ransacking the countryside, they also conducted pagan rituals.

Though they possessed captured enemy equipment, the only thing I hadn't seen before was a TKS, which was actually a light tank of Polish origin and designated "Leichte Panzer TKS (p)" by the Germans.

Hmmm…I didn't think the Germans placed much stock in the Polish equipment.

I know we didn't, although we really liked the Polish armored trains.

Now, before going home, there was just one more concern:

I had to go back and deactivate any unused mines that I'd placed.

To do that, I hid Goliath and went out on foot looking for them.

The original design for these mines had no way to disarm them safely, so I'd incorporated a secret disarming switch on them for this sort of thing.

Once I collected all the mines, there was one more thing I had to do:

I took control of the ISU-152 and drove it off the pier in town, being sure to jump out before it went in the water.

When my job was done, I went back home to fix up Goliath.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	40. Red Glare

I was feeling good about myself by now.

Having smashed a number of Germans on their own soil, I decided that I was going to set my sights higher.

Much higher.

It was time for me to boldly go where none of us had gone before.

I was going to America.

To do this, I needed to pack heavily.

Since the journey was going to be very long, my packing efforts emphasized fuel and provisions more than ammunition.

I also knew this was going to be a risky move, considering that I was not the first one to have attacked America on its own turf.

* * *

The Atlantic Ocean was too heavily contested for me to attempt crossing, so I headed east, towards the Pacific Ocean instead.

I could have taken the Trans-Siberian Railway, but that would have been too risky because I didn't know who was monitoring it.

I did, however, travel not too far from it, gathering additional fuel from depots along the way.

Now, let me tell you about the crossing:

Before the war, we had actually constructed a bridge across the Bering Strait in conjunction with the Americans.

I don't know what the Americans called it, but we called it the "Soviet-American Friendship Bridge" in the Soviet Union.

However, the Americans would've seen me coming if I tried to cross that, plus, it might not even be strong enough to hold Goliath.

Instead, I headed over to Vladivostok to take a ferry.

You know, now that I think of it, something quite funny happened:

When I got near there, the land became quite peaceful, as if this war didn't exist.

So, for the last part of my journey across the Soviet Union, I loaded Goliath onto a flatbed car and took the Trans-Siberian Railway to save fuel.

Nevertheless, I could still hear cannon fire in the distance when I came to Vladivostok.

So, I got here without incident, but there was quite a commotion when I tried to commandeer the ferry.

Still, I got that done and continued on to America.

* * *

Just to be safe, I avoided any of the major ports and made a landing at an unoccupied beach.

If I was checking the map correctly, I had made landfall in a place called "Oregon", which I knew little about.

Despite my limited knowledge of American geography, I made a concerted effort to avoid any high-traffic roadways or major metropolitan centers.

However, that meant I had to take an arduous route through a mountain range known as "The Cascade Range".

Since I'd been through the Ural and Caucasus Mountains before, this wasn't especially difficult except for a few points.

Eventually, I crossed the border into California, and soon, I had to be extra-careful when the forests became thinner.

Soon, I came to a coastal town known as "Live Oaks", where I witnessed some American tanks conducting gunnery exercises.

Up to this point, unlike Europe, there appeared to be no major conflicts going on, so I guessed that what I thought was the apocalypse was probably just confined to one area of the globe.

Now, while I had the perfect element of surprise, they were too numerous for me to take on all by myself, so I took cover behind a few L-shaped buildings and scanned the group.

In their group, I saw a T1 Cunningham, a T40, some M24s, a couple of Easy Eights, an M10, an M36, a Hellcat, two Terrible 29s and a few unrecognized vehicles.

I definitely didn't want to be taking on these guys without adequate surprise, even though most of their vehicles weren't more advanced than Goliath.

Still, I took aim at an M24 and fired!

BOOM!

Target destroyed!

Rather than wait for the 152 to reload and get torn up in the process, I left the vicinity and headed for a nearby railroad bridge.

It was too risky to actually cross the bridge, so I crossed the stream that ran under the bridge, heading for a nearby bush.

As usual, I cranked the turret around and did my usual ritual of killing the engine, throwing on the camo net (leaving the gun uncovered, too) and trying to intercept their radio signals.

"…we'll cover the north. Able Leader out."

"Roger! Baker Leader out!"

"Charlie Leader out!"

A few moments later, I spotted a squad of four tanks heading in my direction, led by a Terrible 29.

They were just about to cross the bridge when…

"Baker Leader, this is Baker Three! There's something by the water, over!"

They all stopped to have a look.

I just sat there, hoping that they wouldn't notice.

"This Is Baker Two! I can't see anything there, over!"

"This is Baker Four! All clear on my scope, over!"

"Baker Leader to Baker Three, that's just a bunch of trees & bushes! Nothing to be worried about! All units, get moving, out!

Having not seen me, they proceeded to cross the bridge, which was a fatal mistake on their part.

I aimed the howitzer at a brick column that was holding up the bridge, and…

BOOM!

"Able Leader, this is Baker Leader…"

The bridge collapsed, putting all four tanks of Baker Squad out of action!

"Baker Leader, this is Able Leader! What's going on!? Over!"

"Come in, Baker Leader! All Baker, come in, over!"

"Baker!"

"This is Able Leader to Charlie Squad! Baker Squad has gone silent! Carry out an investigation in Sector K5! Able Leader out"

"This is Charlie Leader, we're heading there now! Charlie Leader out!"

By this time, I had re-started my engine, so I took off the camo net and hid back behind the L-shaped buildings.

Eventually, I heard another message: "This is Charlie Four! Sir, something took out the bridge! Baker Squad's been…"

BOOM!

I blew up the M24 that was once designated "Charlie Four"

However, not too long after he got there, the T1 Cunningham swooped in.

It was no trouble; all I had to do was run over it with Goliath.

I made as quick a retreat as I could into some bushes while I listened for further transmissions from Charlie Squad.

Eventually, I got the following exchange:

"Able Leader, this is Charlie Leader! Charlie Four & Five are dead! We still can't see anything!"

"Roger that! I'll give the order, then! Able Leader out!"

For the next few seconds, I heard nothing else from Able Leader, so I tried switching my radio frequency around, until…

"…evacuate the town, over!"

A few seconds later, I heard sirens going off, so that must've meant that the local authorities were evacuating the town, which was good for me because I didn't want innocent people getting in my way while I was fighting these guys.

After that message, I got this one:

"This is Staff Sergeant Caruthers of the 41st Armored Company calling Redding Army Air Force Base! We're under attack by enemy forces! Send reinforcements, I say again, send reinforcements, out!"

"This is Colonel Sanders of Redding Army Air Force Base! Reinforcements are on the way, out!"

Uh-oh, they're on to me!

I didn't know how much time I'd have left before reinforcements arrived, so I had to eliminate the others as quickly as possible, but without being too hasty.

Soon, the remnants of Charlie Squad showed up, consisting of an "Easy Eight" Sherman, an M36 "Jackson" and a Terrible 29.

I waited a few seconds, and then I targeted the M36 and blew it up.

Shortly afterwards, I learned I'd been spotted:

"Charlie Three to Charlie Leader, I think I found him! He got Charlie Two! I'm firing at him now, over!"

"Roger that! Charlie Leader moving to attack position, out!"

Charlie Three, the "Easy Eight", got a first shot, but bounced off Goliath's gun mantlet.

I retaliated by throwing an anti-tank grenade at him.

BOOM!

Charlie Leader then responded:

"Able Leader, this is Charlie Leader! My entire squad's dead, but I've found the bastard who did it! I don't know what it is, but it's huge! It may be Russian! Whoever he is, I'm attacking him now, but I may need some backup!

Charlie Leader damaged Goliath, but I struck back with another anti-tank grenade, which only damaged the Terrible 29.

It seemed to be enough to put it out of action, though, because I saw the crew members (the live ones, anyways) bailing out.

Just for the heck of it, when Goliath's 152mm howitzer was reloaded, I finished off the Terrible 29 after the crew had cleared the vehicle.

Now, it was just me and Able Squad.

However, I couldn't stay down here any longer or I'd be crushed, so I moved north, towards the town.

I crossed the field where they'd been holding their gunnery exercises, but it was risky, so I went west and made use of whatever little foliage was available to me.

It wasn't entirely easy, because partway through the field, someone was taking potshots at me:

"This is Able Three, I see him! He's at Sector F1! Attacking now, over!"

I couldn't see Able Three, so I just pushed Goliath's engine as hard as it would go.

This guy landed quite a few shots, but I made it into town, but not before someone else caught up to me:

"This is Able Two, he's entering the town! We got him now, over!"

"Roger that! Able Leader to all forces: ATTACK! Able Leader out!"

Sure, under ordinary circumstances, I would've been surrounded, but as you know, I brought a few "tricks of the trade" with me.

First of all, I needed a place to hide Goliath in this town.

After a few seconds of searching, I found a garage.

Unfortunately, it was locked, so I blew the lock open with a burst from my PPSh-41.

Since the garage was empty, I simply drove Goliath in.

However, the roof of the turret scraped against the top of the door, but nothing on Goliath was damaged except the paint.

Besides, I figured the 41st wouldn't notice.

Once Goliath was inside, I shut the garage door and began planting mines in the streets.

However, I heard some tanks approaching, so I ducked into a nearby bush.

Sure enough, a couple of them fell for the trap!

Despite this, that was all it took for them to fall back and leave the town.

When they left, I waited for them to come back, but after an hour, they still refused to come back.

At this point, I figured that they were just waiting to ambush me the moment I left town.

Didn't matter to me; after all, they couldn't have a lot of tanks left.

I picked up any mines that I came across, headed back for Goliath and started it back up.

By now, their leader was transmitting messages of this sort:

"All right, you Russki bastard, we have you surrounded! There's no escape for you! Come out of there with your hands up! If you bring that tank of yours, we'll destroy you!"

HA! I was not going to surrender that easily!

Instead, I smashed through the garage door and headed to the eastern part of town, figuring it was less open.

As soon as I went that way, though, I was fired upon by a strange tank that I hadn't seen before.

It hit Goliath pretty badly, but Goliath hit it even worse, destroying it.

I kept heading east, but then I spotted another M24 coming at me on my right.

It attempted to circle me, but my gun had finished reloading, so after it circled and fired a couple of shots, I brought the hull and turret to bear, and…

BOOM!

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	41. Bombs Bursting In Air

Chaffee destroyed!

That wasn't all, though, because I saw a shot fly past me and got this radio message:

"End of the line for you, kid! You may have toasted my men, but now, it's time for you to get what you deserve!"

Rather than stopping to engage Able Leader, I kept going until I found a rail yard.

I took cover in the rail yard, hiding behind a building there.

In the meantime, I waited for Able Leader to come closer.

A few moments later, Able Leader emerged from the town.

His tank resembled a Terrible 29, but the turret looked different, smaller too.

In any case, I lined up my shot carefully, and…

BOOM!

Able Leader was still alive and taunted me over the radio:

"Good! Very good! I didn't think you'd do that much damage! You're still not gonna stop us, though!"

I backed away just as he fired a shot, which missed.

I waited for the cannon to reload, got the turret ready and lined up for another shot.

Unfortunately, I missed!

His next shot hit, but only bounced.

"Come on, give it up!" said Able Leader. "Do you even realize who you're dealing with, punk!?"

I certainly did, but it made little difference to me.

I went back out and lined up another shot at him.

He was quicker on the draw than me and hit Goliath, damaging it quite badly.

I hit him again, but despite the massive damage, all he got was a broken track.

Then, when I backed into cover, he called me on the radio again:

"Hey…hey Russki, you speak English?"

"Yes," I replied. "What do you want?"

Truth be told, I had become quite proficient at the English language lately.

However, a few things still evaded me, particularly slang, colloquialisms and technical jargon.

Anyways, Able Leader continued:

"Hey listen, I got a confession to make: I never really wanted to join the Army. See, the only reason I joined this outfit was because I accidentally sent a dirty letter to my mom that was meant for my sweetheart, so I'm just getting away until she forgets about the whole thing, see?"

"Er…OK…" I replied.

Personally, I thought this was a strange thing for him to tell me in the middle of battle.

While Soviet propaganda makers would have used this as some example of how Americans are stupid and promiscuous, it wasn't that big of a deal to me, strange as it was.

Besides, I'm sure at least a few of my former comrades in the Soviet Army had done some strange things themselves.

Anyways, after that confession, I talked to Able Leader myself:

"Listen, uh...Staff Sergeant Caruthers…was it? You and your comrades have fought bravely here today! I truly admire you Americans! Now, I have a proposal to you: I shall let you live if you will let me go. Do you agree?"

At first, Able Leader laughed and responded: "Good one! You Russkies sure know how to make people laugh!"

However, a few seconds later, he stopped laughing and became serious:

"Now, you listen here! I've come too far just to let you go! See, I know what's going on over there and I'm gonna put a stop to it, starting with you! Say your prayers, you bastard!"

"Please, can't we talk this over like men?" I replied. "You have fought with unwavering endurance here today! I offer you a chance for life! Surely, a land like America would miss you, would it not?"

"No truce! Either you die or I die, and let me tell you, boy, I'm not goin' anywhere! Whatever's happening in your country is your fault, so I'm going in to set things right, starting with you, rabble-rouser!"

"WAIT! Don't shoot! Look, I didn't want any of that to happen any more than you did! Believe me, I've been trying to stop that madness too! If you let me go, I promise I will never come back here again! Besides, you have sent for reinforcements, so I'm probably dead already!"

I got silence for a few seconds, but then he replied: "Well…all right. But if you don't clean up over there, I'm going to come over there myself and tear you to pieces, got it!?"

"I understand! _Do svidanya_, comrade!"

"Uh…yeah! Same to you, pal!"

With that, my opponent drove away and went out of town.

In the meantime, I drove back towards the main part of town and did my usual investigative work.

Not only were these men part of the 41st Armored Company, but they were part of a secret group that called themselves "Patriot Company".

According to a manifesto that I picked up from one of their crewmen, they believed that the reason that the wars escalated on the other half of the world is because the other nations were lacking in "proper American values" and that the key to peace was to conquer every other nation.

Judging by their logs and by their combat performance, it didn't seem like they'd had too much combat experience.

I disagreed completely with their manifesto.

First of all, I did not want to be conquered by the Americans, and second, stopping this madness wasn't a simple matter of taking over the world and forcing people to behave a certain way.

On the other hand, these folks weren't with W.G., so I suppose they were all right.

As I've mentioned earlier, only a few of their tanks were unrecognized, the first of these being a T20, a prototype medium tank that was apparently meant to replace the Sherman.

Another one was the T25/2, a tank destroyer based on the same chassis as the T20, but with a different drivetrain.

Oddly enough, their handbook mentioned another tank destroyer with the name "T25", but that one had no turret.

Finally, Able Leader's tank was a T32, a different version of the T29.

Naturally, I also called this one the "Terrible 32".

Before leaving, I drove into town, deciding that I had enough time to take in the sights.

After hiding Goliath in a bush, I had a look around, and I must say, it was interesting.

On the one hand, there were a number of brick buildings in town that looked pretty worn, and there were some rickety-looking shacks, but on the other hand, there were plenty of nice houses, too.

The cars here were different, too: Bigger and shinier than what we had in the Soviet Union.

They looked like cars that were fit for kings.

On that subject, I caught sight of an unusual car: One that was boxier, lower and longer than usual.

After inspecting both the exterior and interior, I found that it was called a "Bel Air", manufactured by a company called Chevrolet in 1972.

1972!?

This shouldn't be real!

Again, while I didn't know the exact year, I was certain, beyond all reasonable doubt, that it was not even the 1950s, never mind the 1970s.

According to a calendar I found in one house, the date was June 1944.

By my estimations, it had been two years since the Dark Times began.

Wow, I'm impressed that I've survived so long!

But that still doesn't answer the question: How did an automobile made in 1972 come to exist in 1944?

On second thought, it seemed stupid to me to try to ponder this, just as it would seem stupid to outsiders that such a thing could exist and the locals wouldn't give it a second look.

Now, all this surviving had made me hungry, so I searched for a restaurant or another place to find food.

Luckily, I found one, and it appeared that people had been eating here when the town had been evacuated.

I sat down at the counter, where a plate with a partially-eaten sandwich of some sort awaited me.

I started eating it, and it was delicious!

I never tasted anything like this before!

After a bit of reading and guesswork, I found out that this particular creation was called a "hamburger", and it was accompanied by a side dish known as "French fries" and a fizzy drink named "Coca-Cola".

Oh, if only we had this sort of food in the Soviet Union!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a good dish of borscht, and I didn't mind cooking up random wildlife that I killed for survival, but I had yearned for something different, and this certainly filled the need!

Having filled this need, I took whatever random food items I could take and went back for Goliath.

However, just as I was about to leave the restaurant, I heard the sound of airplanes flying overhead.

Looking out the window, I saw that they were fighter planes.

Damn, those must be the reinforcements!

I waited until they flew away, then I got back to Goliath and started it up.

I had little trouble getting to the shore, where I found another ferry, so I loaded Goliath on and set sail for the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, some of those fighter planes came back and spotted my ferry, opening fire with their machine guns.

The guns tore some holes through the deck, but failed to sink me or the ferry.

They also attempted to drop bombs, but very narrowly missed.

I had to do something!

Thinking quickly, I detached one of the DT machine guns from Goliath and used it as an anti-aircraft weapon.

I waited for one of the planes to turn around, and then opened fire, shooting it down.

I hit another one, but it was still flying.

I had also brought my PPSh-41 up on deck, so I used that in conjunction with the DT.

Another plane came in for a strafing run, but it too was shot down.

Two more to go!

The third one tried using its machine guns, but the bullets either missed me or dented my armor.

I managed to shoot this one down, too.

The fourth one wasn't so easy to take down, though.

I missed it and it peppered the deck with more machine gun bullets.

On its next run, it struck the ferry with a bomb, starting a fire.

Quickly, I went over to where Goliath – still not destroyed – was parked and grabbed a fire extinguisher from it, putting out the flames.

Luckily, the ferry was still holding together, so I returned to take on the last fighter plane.

Once again, I let loose with my DT machine gun, and it was out of action.

For the rest of the journey, I played it cautiously, trying to stay as far away from Alaska as possible.

Despite all the commotion I had caused, no other planes or ships attacked me, so I reached Vladivostok and from there, made my way to my hideout.

Overall, America seemed to have problems of its own, but it certainly felt like a nicer place to live than the Soviet Union.

Maybe one day, I'll get out of the Soviet Union and move there.

Of course, it may have to wait, since America has experienced another day that will live in infamy.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	42. The Lineup

After having another one of those dreams about the shadowy figures, I decided I'd had all I could take.

There had to be some way to stop this torture!

But how?

I took some time to reflect upon the circumstances of my situation.

After half an hour's worth of thought, I realized something:

Before I got that safe at Malinovka, I hadn't been having any of those dreams, so maybe it had something to do with the safe.

Or maybe I had a run of bad luck when I gave that card to the T-34 commander.

Actually, after a little more thinking, I decided that the card was unlikely to have caused me any frustration like this, so it must be the safe.

But what about the safe, then?

Not long after, it hit me:

The black diamond!

It must be cursed!

This thing had to be some sort of priceless artifact, so I decided that I had to return it to its rightful owner.

After more thinking, I realized that I had absolutely no idea, not even a single clue, of who the owner of this diamond was.

Then, I had an idea:

Rather than try to return it, I was going to pass the curse on to somebody else!

So, when I was ready, I took another trip to Germany.

This time, I flanked around the south and tried entering through the west, which meant I had to penetrate the infamous Siegfried Line.

When I got there, though, I witnessed a battle going on already.

The whole setup reminded me of Egypt, with a French company taking on a German company.

The Germans, whoever they were, didn't appear to have anything I hadn't seen before, but the French had a few new toys with them in addition to AMX light tanks, BDR and ARL heavy tanks, and some other typical French machines.

Just like Egypt, though, I stayed in the shadows and let them blow each other to pieces.

Eventually, when the smoke cleared, it was the Germans who had triumphed.

Of course, I didn't think they'd be in such good shape after this battle, so I went in there to clean up with them.

It wasn't easy, though, because a JagdPanther had spotted me and opened fire.

While he did damage me, I also blew him up easily, owing to its condition.

After obliterating the JagdPanther, I broke through the line itself and pressed through the town.

However, I was being fired upon by artillery, so I had to take care of that, too.

I soon found a Hummel, so I destroyed it.

Before I could go any further, though, I got a radio call:

"HALT, RUSSLANDER! Do not move any further! Turn back now or we will destroy you!"

I simply replied, "Go ahead! I'm probably dead anyways!"

In any case, I went behind a building for cover.

A few seconds later, I saw a Tiger II emerge from behind another building.

I took aim at it and fired, but the tank survived the hit.

Naturally, it returned fire, but it only clipped my track as I was backing in, though the track remained together.

Having reloaded, I drove back out of cover only to find that the Tiger II had the guts to approach my position.

I was quicker on the draw than it, though, so I destroyed it.

Once again, to the victor go the spoils, the spoils in this case being additional resources plus knowledge of my opponents.

The French tankers here belonged to "La Brigade Charlemagne", who believed that the Dark Times actually began many years prior to this World War, more specifically, during the French Revolution.

Ergo, they believed that the only way to restore order was to return France to a monarchy and to conquer a few more territories.

Needless to say, I thought that was a bunch of bull.

However contemptible the idea was, they meant business, judging by their new toys.

One of these was an AMX-13 F3 AM, an SPG based on the AMX-13 chassis.

The AMX light tanks were annoying enough, but engaging one with an artillery gun had to be hell for anyone without a sufficiently advanced tank.

Aside from their S35 CA, they had another tank destroyer: The ARL V 39, which looked like a modified Char B1 or BDR G1B chassis with a typical forward-mounted cannon.

They also had another new SPG: The Lorraine 155 mod. 50, based on a chassis that I'd never seen before.

Speaking of Lorraine, that was also the name of a 40-ton medium tank, which had an autoloader cannon similar to what the AMX light tanks had.

Actually, the 155 mod. 50 shared the same chassis as this one.

The fact that the Lorraine 40t had an autoloader was bad enough, but there was also an AMX-series heavy tank called the AMX-50 with a 100mm autoloader cannon.

Judging by the layout of the chassis and the components utilized, it appeared that they'd taken influence from the Germans when constructing this machine.

Speaking of the Germans, the particular company that was defending the Siegfried Line was one of the infamous SS panzer divisions, "Reinhard Heydrich".

Reinhard Heydrich had founded an organization called the "Sichereitsdienst", or "SD" for short, and was also "Obergruppenführer" of the SS prior to his assassination in 1942.

Now that I think of it, he was assassinated shortly before the collapse of order, so I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

Probably not, but I'm not counting out the possibility.

Despite the breakdown of order, the SS panzer division "Reinhard Heydrich" remained loyal to Nazi Germany and was primarily interested in defending all of its remaining possessions as if they still mattered.

According to one letter I found, they also shared a connection:

"Herr Müller,

Our attempt to take back the city of Donnerberg has failed. Contrary to our intelligence reports, we encountered a heavily-armed Russian tank division here. Despite our element of surprise and our superior speed, the Russians destroyed every one of our tanks and left only a few survivors.

Since we now know that the Russians have acquired superior technology, we feel that it would be in both of our best interests if you would get us more powerful battle machines. We have tried to acquire these ourselves, but we have only come across non-functioning ones or ones that are in the hands of hostile forces. If you can get some for us, I assure you that we won't disappoint you.

Thank you for reading this letter. It has been an honor serving with you.

-Mit Deutschem Gruß,

Oberst Dieter Kandler,

The Blitzkrieg Boys"

Hmmm…looks like I'll be doing another round against them.

You know, I never thought I'd be saying this, but for once, I'm actually glad that the Germans won.

Given the way the new French tanks were equipped, I would've been screwed if I attempted to take on "La Brigade Charlemagne" by myself.

On the other hand, they appeared to have weak armor, judging by the data contained in the handbooks.

After I was all done here, I did whatever repairs I could for Goliath and pressed further behind enemy lines.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	43. The Great City of the Sky

After penetrating the Siegfried Line, I continued on, eventually reaching a city.

I didn't catch the name of the city at first, but I did run into an odd variant of the Panzer IV with some sort of protruding plates attached to its turret.

Whatever this variant was, it was no more difficult to destroy than an ordinary Panzer IV.

Shortly after I got the Panzer IV, I saw a sign that had the city name on it:

"Himmelsdorf"

It was at this moment that my heart sank.

I'd heard many legends about this city, some of which I now knew to be true, others I wasn't so sure of.

For one, I heard that despite Allied bombing raids, the city refused to fall, which reminded me of the London Blitz.

Made sense, considering how many buildings here were blown to pieces.

Another one I heard, and probably more frightening was this:

Few tank companies were able to penetrate the Siegfried Line or the less well-known "Ostwall", and of those that did, none of them ever came back when they came to this city.

Upon seeing a corpse of an IS-3, I felt pretty creeped out.

After all, if something existed that could actually kill an IS-3 so easily, then how would Goliath fare?

Quickly, I looked around for a good spot to set up.

Suddenly, my eyes spotted a hill with a castle upon it.

That looked perfect!

While heading for the hill, I was attacked by a VK 3001!

Luckily, Goliath's 152 put it out of action.

However, I came across a VK 3601 shortly afterwards, so I had to wait to reload.

In this city, with these circumstances, though, I didn't want to be caught by another tank while waiting to reload.

Luckily, the gun was reloaded with no trouble, so I drove out of cover and…

BOOM!

Another bad guy destroyed!

I continued climbing up the hill, when all of a sudden, a Panther snuck on me!

Only, this one had pathetic firepower for a Panther.

In fact, the turret was small for a Panther turret.

Regardless, because the M-10 had not fully loaded yet, I had to dispose of my foe using an anti-tank grenade.

At the top of the hill, I encountered no other enemies, but knowing that the worst was yet ahead of me, I parked Goliath in a bush next to the castle and shut the engine off.

I exited the tank, taking my PPSh-41 and the black diamond with me and concealing my friend with the camo net.

For the next phase of the plan, I entered the castle and went up about two floors.

Here, I waited.

After a few minutes, I saw a Löwe coming up the hill from the north.

At the top of the hill, it turned onto the grassy patch where Goliath & the castle were located.

I was afraid that they would stop and hurt Goliath, but they simply continued on.

When the time was right, I jumped out a window and landed on the tank.

I opened up the hatch and said to the crew, "Hey guys, I like your tank!"

The tank stopped.

"Achtung!" exclaimed the commander. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Well, I like your tank, so I want you to give it to me!"

"Nein! You must be crazy to think that!"

"Come on, please give me your tank!"

"NEIN! Go away, you Soviet idiot!"

I presented the diamond to them.

"Here, I'll trade you this diamond for your tank!"

The commander and the others pulled their pistols on me.

"Go away!" said the commander. "We are not interested in your shiny rock!"

"Come on, take it!" I said.

"I said, we are not taking that stupid thing! Go away or you will be shot!"

"Please, take the diamond! I promise you, you can get an even better tank with it!"

"You have three seconds to leave us or we will shoot you!"

At this point, I brought my PPSh-41 to the ready.

"Come on, I could pump all your guts full of lead right now! Take the diamond or you're gonna get it!" I said.

"THAT'S IT!" shouted the commander.

The crewmen all fired some bullets, but they bounced.

I shot one of them in the arm as a warning.

"TAKE THE DIAMOND RIGHT NOW OR I'LL SHOOT YOU ALL IN THE HEAD!"

The crew complied.

The commander took the diamond and left the tank along with the rest of the crewmen, one of whom was carrying a medical kit.

In the meantime, I took control of the Löwe.

Again, it felt pretty weird compared to Goliath, but the controls were at least somewhat similar to the Panzer IV's.

Having driven a few kinds of tanks, though, I can safely say that there are a few constants when it comes to tank controls, so that certainly helped.

Once the Löwe was in my possession, I planted anti-tank mines at all possible entry points to the hill, making sure that the Löwe was away from the entry points, though.

Since I had the element of surprise, I chose to head to the north end of the city.

The Löwe seemed to go about as fast as the KV-3, though I think acceleration was a bit worse, barring the downhill speed boost, of course.

At the bottom of the hill, I spotted a GwPanther.

Though I was confident that the Löwe's cannon could lay waste to the GwPanther, I decided to ram it in addition to firing a shot.

Naturally, the GwPanther blew up quite nicely.

Now that I think of it, I shouldn't have to worry about artillery in this city because it's almost useless.

Suddenly, I got a radio call:

"Red Four, this is Red Leader, why are you late with your status report!? Over!"

Trying the best I could, I told him: "This is Red Four, sorry I could not respond! My vehicle had some mechanical trouble, over!"

He replied: "Red Four, your voice sounds funny. What's going on? Over!"

"Sorry sir, my voice has become worn out from stress, over!"

"OK then, just take it easy! Red Leader out!"

"Red Four out!"

Whew, that was a close call!

In the meantime, I sighted a VK 2801 and fired at it.

"Help, this is Blue Three, I'm under attack at the north side! Over!"

"Blue Three, this is Blue Leader, identify your assailant! Over!

"It's one of…"

BOOM!

"Blue Three, what happened!?"

"Blue Three, respond!"

"We've lost contact with Blue Three. Backup units, check it out now!"

"Roger, this is Gold Leader, my team will be coming along as backup! Gold Leader out!"

"Copy that. Blue Leader out."

I pressed on, going to the west side of the city, where I spotted an unknown SPG in a rail yard.

Whatever it was, it was HUGE.

It was also quite far away from me, so I figured that if I could engage it now, then I could destroy it without fear of reprisal.

I took aim at the thing and fired.

Naturally, I hit it.

The Löwe's 105mm cannon appeared to have similar damage and penetration characteristics as the KV-3's cannon, but it seemed to be a bit more accurate, too.

However, powerful as it was, it couldn't kill the artillery gun.

"This is Red Five", said its commander, "I'm under attack! Attempting to locate assailant, over!"

However, it couldn't locate me before I destroyed it.

I kept going, when…

"Blue Leader, this is Gold Leader, I've spotted the attacker…oh no, it's one of our own! Alarm, ALARM! All personnel, Red Four has gone mad! He is attempting to eliminate us and he's attacking me now! Over!"

"Understood. This is Red Leader, all units on maximum alert! Don't let the traitor get away! Red Leader out!"

"Roger, Gold Leader out!"

"Confirmed, Blue Leader out!"

I continued my firefight with Gold Leader, a VK 3002, until…

BOOM!

Vehicle destroyed!

That wasn't all, though, as I had to deal with an incoming VK 3001 and a VK 3601.

The VK 3601 was quite worrying to me because of its rapid firing rate and its ability to penetrate the Löwe.

However, even though a few shots missed my body by a few centimeters, they were otherwise doing little actual damage to the Löwe.

In contrast, the 105mm KwK 46 of the Löwe was tearing the VK 3601 apart.

The VK 3001 tried to charge at me and interfere, but I wasted it with an anti-tank grenade.

In the meantime, I defeated the VK 3601 and proceeded further into the city.

When I got into the city itself, I was attacked by a heavy tank of an unknown design.

Based on my judgment, the hull appeared to be a Porsche-type with the slack tracks and the turret looked almost the same as a Tiger II turret.

Maybe this was a new tank in the Tiger series?

Whatever it was, the first shot I fired at it bounced off.

However, it fired a shot at me and damaged my tank.

We both backed into cover.

After I backed in, about a second later, I made a risky move and charged right back out.

I had decided to flank the bastard.

I proceeded down the street and turned left into a central courtyard, where my "friend" was still expecting me to cross his path from the front.

I took aim at his turret and hit him hard, then backed into cover.

Naturally, whoever was piloting that mystery tank came for me.

I tried moving to a different position, but the slow acceleration of the Löwe hampered my ability to do that, so I stopped trying.

Besides, whatever tank I was facing had better acceleration than me.

I turned around to face it, but it damaged the Löwe in the process.

Still, I took aim at his commander's cupola and blew that open.

His next shot bounced off my tank.

Next, I hit the MG mount on the hull, causing a shower of smoke and flames to emerge from the tank.

The crew - or whoever was left of them - bailed out and ran.

A few seconds later…

BOOM!

They're knocked out!

Having scrapped another one of their tanks, I kept going.

Proceeding through the alley on the west side, I turned a corner and found another unknown tank heading away from me.

This one looked like a Tiger II with a Panther II turret.

I took aim at it and fired, slicing its track, after which I quickly backed off.

"Red Two to Red Leader, we're immobilized! No sign of our target yet! Over!"

"Red Two, just hold your position! I am closing in! Red Leader out!"

"Copy, Red Two out!"

I gave the unknown tank a few seconds of mercy before driving back out again.

I spotted the crew getting back into their tank and turn around.

I aimed right at their hull, and…

BOOM!

Somehow, I destroyed their tank with only one shell.

How did that happen!?

At first, I just kept driving and tried not to think so much about it, but the sheer uncommonness of the situation was too powerful for me to ignore.

After a while, I deduced that I hit the tank's ammo rack and detonated it.

I remembered hearing something about that at the academy, but I don't know exactly when.

In any case, I got a radio call:

"Red Four – if that truly is you – you have interfered with us long enough! These things cost us a lot of time and resources, and now it is time for you to pay that price!"

I replied: "I was just giving you some payback, you bully! Nobody breaks into my home turf and gets away with it!"

"Oh, but we are only researchers! We don't invade other peoples' lands; we just give weapons to those who do!"

I decided not to continue talking to him and instead decided to concentrate on battle.

It was less than a minute later that I spotted Red Leader, who was driving a Tiger II…or, actually…something.

This one was different somehow, but I just couldn't put my finger on it; I just knew it was different.

Anyways, I took aim at him and fired.

Unfortunately, that one bounced off, and he hurt the Löwe pretty badly.

However, my next shot went right through his lower glacis.

His next shot also hit me hard, but I was still okay…for now.

I struck his gun mantlet next, but I don't think I damaged him at all.

For his next shot…

BOOM!

That was the end of the Löwe!

Naturally, thinking me dead, he turned around and left.

Of course, just like before, I hopped out and lobbed an anti-tank grenade with all my strength.

The grenade hit the tank and damaged it, but it was still going, and that guy was angry now!

I ran for my life, taking numerous shortcuts and hoping to get back to Goliath before I was caught.

Eventually, after running for what seemed like miles, I made it back to Goliath, and I was pretty tired!

Nevertheless, I had enough strength and coordination left to control it.

By now, I got another message from Red Leader:

"Whoever you are, you can run, but you will only die tired! Now come back here and die honorably!"

I spotted him at the southern hill.

I took aim with the 152 and hit it dead on.

However, it was still alive, and it damaged Goliath.

Another hit like that, and I was done for!

I backed away to cover, but then…

BOOM!

That guy ran over some mines and blew up!

For the first time, somebody had gone into Himmelsdorf and lived to tell about it!

I had never felt so invigorated before!

In my state of invigoration, though, I never forgot to investigate my conquered foes.

They were another SS panzer division, the SS panzer division "Wunderwaffen", one of the most elite SS divisions in Nazi Germany.

These guys were responsible for testing out secret tank projects of Adolf Hitler, and even when things got out of hand, they just kept developing new and more fearsome machines.

We already know the "VK 3" series of medium tanks, but I hadn't seen their kind of Panzer IV up until now.

This one was actually a Panzer IV "Hydro", a variant with – if I understood correctly – a special drive system where the drive sprockets were connected to two oil pumps powered by the tank's engine.

Moving on to artillery, they had an artillery gun mounted on a Tiger II chassis, called the "Geschutzwagen Tiger".

It could be fitted with either a 170mm cannon or a fearsome-sounding 210mm mortar, but thankfully for me, the specimen they possessed had the 170.

As for heavy tanks, their Porsche-designed heavy tank had the designation "VK 4502".

This one could be equipped with two kinds of 88mm guns, or – as this specimen was – a 105mm gun that was shorter than the one on the Löwe.

This one was also odd because unlike most German tanks, it was powered by a Deutz-designed diesel engine.

What really caught my attention, however, was a new medium tank and new heavy tank, respectively named the "E-50" and "E-75".

These were part of a new series of tanks called the "Entwicklung" series, which appeared to be an attempt at making a new series of standardized tanks with common components.

I never saw any of the E-5, E-10 or E-25 class vehicles before, though I did see a resemblance between one of the E-10 JagdPanzers and the Hetzer, so I nicknamed the new tank destroyer the "Super Hetzer".

Of course, as I mentioned, there was also the E-50 medium tank and the E-75 heavy tank, which appeared to share the same hull, but the E-75 had better armor.

Terrifyingly enough, the E-75 could mount a 128mm KwK 44 L/55, but thankfully for me, their specimen only had a 105mm KwK 46 L/68.

The handbook mentioned an "E-100", but since there was no info apart from a single mention, I was inclined to believe it was a fake, but on the other hand, the IS-3 turned out to be real even when I thought it was a fake.

Well, look at me! I stood there and I seriously believed I could take on all this with a 152mm howitzer!

So far, I must have been very lucky, but then I remembered all the neat little tricks I'd kept up my sleeves since my career began.

Luck or not, I decided it was time to head home, so I deactivated all my unused mines and put them away.

There was just one more thing, though:

I had kept a Soviet flag in my tank as a good luck charm, but now, having conquered the city of Himmelsdorf, I took the flag and hung it up on the castle overlooking the town!

After that, I started up Goliath and started heading home, when suddenly, I spotted an enemy Leichttraktor!

How did I not see him!?

It wasn't a huge matter, though, because I ran over and crushed it like all the other Tier I tanks.

Why did these guys even have something so useless in their ranks!?

Did they run short on vehicles?

Or maybe they didn't care about vehicle tiers so long as they had a prototype to test.

Having done so much today, I went home and just relaxed, knowing that I wasn't going to be bothered by those bad dreams anymore.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	44. Et Tu, Hitler?

Unfortunately, it didn't matter what I did with that diamond, because I still had those dreams about the shadowy figures when I went to sleep, and those dreams were increasing in frequency, as they had been for the past few months.

As usual, they were demanding "The key", an object that I knew nothing about.

When I woke up from my latest dream, I got so frustrated that I flipped over a desk that I kept in my hideout for doing paperwork – planning, writing, etc…

I knew this was a childish thing to do, but in war, things change.

People act funny sometimes, you know?

Besides, I'd had enough of these dreams, and I had no idea what this key was supposed to do or even where it was.

Until then, I'd keep searching for these people, and in the meantime, I'd have to live with this.

* * *

After I had breakfast in the morning, I turned my desk back upright and picked up anything that had spilled onto the floor.

Now, today's order of business was to devise some new tricks that I could hide up my sleeves.

First of all, planting anti-tank mines had saved me on numerous occasions, but it worked better when I was not under fire from enemy tanks.

If I needed to plant a mine while trying to get away from a pursuing vehicle, it was difficult to do so with any accuracy, though I had been lucky at Erlenberg.

So, I set to work designing a mine dropper for Goliath.

After a bit of cutting and welding, I got the device attached, but the only issue left was to get it to activate.

Scrap metal wasn't the only thing I plundered, either.

I had some spare electrical wire lying around and some electrical expertise – not a whole lot, mind you, but enough to set up a simple switch.

The mine dropper was also set up to arm a mine automatically when it dropped one, so I used a few inert mines to test it and the test went well.

However, with the added weight of the mine dropper, I figured that the engine could use a little upgrade too, so I got to work on that.

When I was done, I had converted the engine to the V-5F standard, the same as in the T-150.

However, the coup de grace was yet to come.

While looking through all my files, I remembered a special modification that the Soviet Armed Forces did to some of its tanks before the fall.

It was a "Teletank", a remote-control variant of commonly-used light tanks.

Finding a suitable tank for the job was easy, as I located a damaged T-50 one day while cruising in Prokhorovka.

I towed it all the way back to my hideout, being careful to avoid enemy tanks.

Usually, they saw neither of us, but they did see the T-50 sometimes and just ignored it due to its condition.

When I got back home, I restored it to fighting condition and zipped around with it a little before putting it into storage.

The hard part was to modify the T-50 into a Teletank and modify Goliath into the control tank.

Compared to my electrical skills, my electronics skills were lacking.

Well, I did upgrade Goliath to a 10RK radio, but that was probably the only time that I ever worked with electronics outside of a classroom setting.

Besides, I figured I'd get through that matter somehow.

I thumbed through all my files, looking for any info on Teletanks, and after an extensive search, I finally found some schematics for a Teletank control + receiver unit.

Now, I just needed the components needed to construct these.

I went out with my T-150 and looked for some Soviet tanks to knock out.

At Malinovka, I spotted a T-28 and an SU-85, both of which looked perfect for the job.

I flanked the SU-85 and aimed for its engine bay.

After a few shots, the engine bay was smoking.

A couple of crewmen got out and attempted to repair the damage, but I used the coaxial machine gun to tag them.

With them out of the way, I aimed for the T-28, severing its track.

Again, the crewmen made a fatal mistake and tried to repair it under fire.

And again, they were cut down.

When the battle was over, I approached each tank and disassembled their radios in order to get the right components.

Once I collected all the necessary tubes and wires, I headed back to my hideout.

There was another component I needed, too:

A balloon.

This balloon acted as a reservoir for the hydraulics that operated the Teletank's controls.

I couldn't find any in the wild, so I just gathered up some fabrics and created a balloon back at my hideout.

After hours of hard work, I finally converted the T-50 into a Teletank, possibly the first of its kind.

Now, I just had to test it out.

I fired up both tanks and headed out into the wild.

The diagnostic tests worked out successfully; all functions, including driving, turret operation and weapons firing worked out successfully.

When I was all done, I pressed a red button on Goliath's control box, which set off a smoke bomb that was placed in the Teletank.

After the smoke cleared, I drove both tanks back home, happy that the tests went well.

Back home, I removed the smoke canister from the Teletank and instead wired up a little "surprise" for anyone unfortunate enough to get close to the machine.

Now, off to battle!

* * *

For my next round, I proceeded to a French village known as "Lakeville"

As the name suggested, it was right next to a lake.

First, before springing the Teletank into action, I drove it behind a house with some bushes nearby.

Next, I headed west, towards a valley.

The valley was split in the middle by a huge rock, and then narrowed out after the rock.

Since the narrow part was at the top of a small hill, I did not go up there because Goliath's gun depression probably wasn't good enough and because someone would be expecting me at this chokepoint.

Rather, I drove Goliath in reverse partway up the hill, and then planted a mine.

I then proceeded to plant mines in the more open area next to the big rock.

I only planted one at the narrow side of the rock because I figured that if they made it past any mines, then they would be forced to squeeze through here single file, where I could pick them off more easily.

When I took care of that side, I went to plant more mines at the northeastern sector, starting at the mouth of the village.

However, when I got to town, I spotted a random AMX-13 charging towards me.

I destroyed it, but then I had to hurry with the rest of the mines before other enemy forces got there.

There were actually two possible paths through this town, one which took a lower road and was right next to the lake, and one which took a higher road.

I place fewer mines near the higher road because I figured that the dead AMX-13 could hold them off for a bit.

Also, I stopped partway through so I could fire up the Teletank.

I guided the Teletank down the center path, which wasn't easy because there were some rocks blocking my view.

At one point, I saw the Teletank nearly fall off the ledge and into the lake!

Luckily, all my training paid off, and I saw the Teletank get to the other side.

Of course, I saw enemy tanks trying to pick it off, and it even got its track broken.

When I spotted a Tiger II charging at it, I pressed the red button.

BOOM!

I set off a large amount of explosives, which knocked out the Tiger II at the cost of the Teletank's life.

I finished setting up my remaining mines that I had and set up at the chokepoint in the valley.

A few minutes later, I heard explosions as a few tanks were foolish enough to trigger the mines.

I waited for an hour afterwards, hoping to catch one of them at a chokepoint that I'd set up, but nothing happened.

No other explosions went off, so I went to check the narrow point at the west side to see what happened.

Over here, I witnessed a Porsche Tiger and AMX-13 that had triggered mines, plus an ARL-44 that was at the top of the narrow pass.

I got the better of it, but it survived the hit.

With its tracks broken, however, it was going nowhere.

Falling back, I went to check the north.

I couldn't see much from here, just a Lorraine 40-ton that tried to push through the center and failed.

I could see some smoke in the distance, but I wasn't sure what I had killed.

For now, I was completely boxed in.

Given the pattern I had planted the mines in, I couldn't go anywhere without getting destroyed.

Or could I?

Nah, better not take the risk.

Besides, I could get shot by another tank off in the distance.

All of a sudden, I spotted an AMX-13 emerging from the north!

Damn, he must've bypassed all of the mines!

He couldn't bypass a 152mm shell, though.

Looking to the east, I noticed the corpse of the Lorraine 40-ton moving!

Something must be pushing it…but what?

By the time the 152 was reloaded, I saw very clearly what was pushing it:

An AMX-50/100.

I fired once I could see enough of it.

Being a higher-technology vehicle, though, it took the hit and kept going.

I threw an anti-tank grenade at its turret, disabling the vehicle.

Now, I just had to get around all the mines I'd placed.

To make my job easier, I disarmed a few and reloaded them.

Just like Pripyat, I followed the AMX-13's tracks.

The problem was that the AMX-13 was narrower than the KV-2, so I had to be extra-careful.

On the way to town, I saw the corpse of a Panther that had tripped a mine.

Another problem was that I saw both a Panzer V/IV and a Char B1 guarding both entry points to the village.

I blew up the V/IV first because it was a bigger threat even with the Panzer IV's 75mm gun.

I let the Char B1 bounce shells off of me while waiting to reload.

That turned out to be a bad idea because something else hit Goliath and did plenty of damage.

I needed to get into cover, and fast!

I tagged the B1 with the 152mm while on the move and just managed to avoid another shell from out of nowhere.

I dodged the remaining mines and pushed into the village.

At one road, I spotted a Porsche Tiger at an intersection.

I damaged it first, but it still managed to hit me.

Now, Goliath was doing quite badly.

Nevertheless, I pressed on, convinced that I didn't have that much longer to go.

I dropped a mine at the intersection near the Porsche Tiger and dropped another mine a couple of meters away.

A few seconds later, I heard an explosion as the Porsche Tiger was put out of commission.

Soon, I discovered a JagdPanzer IV guarding a pass.

Having taken on JagdPanzers before, this one wasn't much harder to destroy than others that had come before.

After it was gone, I left the town and came to a pass.

However, as I proceeded further, I spotted a tank destroyer of unknown type, possibly German.

I saw it turning to face me, so I tried to aim and shoot as quickly as I possibly could.

I managed to hit him, but it did not kill him, and fearing what he might do, I backed away.

The machine had fired a shot at me, but it missed because its gun had shaken when the 152mm shell hit it.

I stayed in cover, trying to come up with a viable solution to destroy it.

If this thing could survive a 152mm high-explosive shell without major system damage and deal so much damage back to Goliath, then I couldn't fool around.

That 152mm cannon took a while to aim, so it would probably destroy Goliath if I tried to shoot and move.

About a minute or so later, I spotted the machine trying to come after me, but a second 152mm round finished it off.

Proceeding further, I saw another tank destroyer, which appeared to be based on a Tiger chassis of some sort.

However, I noticed that the crew was frantically trying to repair its engine.

I took a quick shot at its front, and while it didn't destroy the machine itself, the gun was certainly disabled and at least one crewman was killed.

I knocked it out with an anti-tank grenade when I got close.

Hmmm…too easy!

Then again, as long as I've beaten them, why should I care?

About them:

They were the Holy Roman Alliance, a mixed French and German company who planned to unite France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Italy into one big country, similar to the old Holy Roman Empire, hence the name.

From there, they planned to expand their empire.

Already, I knew that their plans would make them an enemy of several tank companies, including: Les Fils du Jean Valjean, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Coalition, the Soviet-American Alliance, the Red Wolves and others.

Given their technology level, I don't think they'd have too much trouble facing any of them, unless all at once.

Speaking of technology, they really didn't have much that was new to me.

First, they had a variant of the Panzer V/IV called the Panzer V/IV "Alpha", which seemed to be a prize for special tankers of some kind.

Second, they had a tank destroyer known as a "Ferdinand", which was based on the same chassis as Porsche's version of the Tiger tank.

Suddenly, I had a realization:

Prior to the fall, I remembered hearing a few SU-76 crewmen refer to the SU-76 as the "bare-assed Ferdinand", something that I never understood completely.

However, when I noticed that the layout of both the SU-76 and the Ferdinand were very similar, it all made sense!

Finally, the crown of the HRA's armored forces was the JagdTiger, a fearsome tank destroyer based on the Tiger II chassis.

Given the fact that the Ferdinand & JagdTiger could mount 128mm guns, I was so lucky to have survived.

On the body of the JagdTiger's commander, I found this note:

"Agent 986:

I offer you my sincerest complimentations for making ingress into the central sector. Since Agent 412's efforts to maintain occupation of the eastern sector have failed, I now grant you the privilege of annexing this territory. In the unlikely scenario that you too shall fail, I will also request Agent 403 to cooperate with you. Despite a setback that his company has experienced, I am confident that your two companies shall be unconquerable when cooperating with each other.

Should you succeed as I have hoped, your reward will be greater than all the gold in the world. Do not disenchant me.

-With regards,

W.G."

Another one? How many tankers does W.G. have working for him, I wondered?

And what are his…

OH NO!

I just realized something:

The Red Wolves were also under his command, and yet they should be enemies of the Holy Roman Alliance!

I've figured out what W.G.'s plans were:

He was planning to turn various tankers against each other so that he can eliminate the survivors and take over the world once the major action subsides!

But wait, if I'm destroying people like the Red Wolves and the Holy Roman Alliance, wouldn't I simply be accelerating his plans?

No wait, that didn't matter!

I just had to find W.G., and fast!

I didn't even know where to look, but I just had to get home as quickly as possible!

With that, I got into Goliath and pushed the engine as hard as I could.

I stopped briefly, however, when I saw a German tanker in an SS uniform crawling away from a tank wreckage of some sort.

I got out of Goliath, but even though he was dying, I would not lend a hand.

I simply told him, "Hey you, I've seen your face before, my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am."

He just turned to me, and uttered these words:

"Sic…semper…tyrannis…"

Those were the last words he said.

With his last breath, he dropped something.

I picked it up and recognized it:

The black diamond!

It didn't matter who had it, so I just took it with me and headed home for the usual repairs and maintenance.

I also demounted the Teletank control console and put it aside.

I had no further use for it, but then again…


	45. Laying Low

Once again, I had another one of those nightmares about the shadowy figures, and once again, they demanded that key.

I'll find these bastards soon enough, and I'll find W.G. too, even if it kills me!

* * *

After some thought, I decided to start my search in Karelia.

As usual, I chose the southern pass.

However, out of nowhere, I felt Goliath take a massive hit!

I screamed as I thought I was going to be killed by that one!

Luckily, I survived, and started to drive to cover when I felt a weird draft coming into the tank.

I looked back and noticed something terrible:

My turret was gone!

I was shocked beyond all belief!

Shock, however, turned to anger within a matter of seconds.

I abandoned whatever was left of Goliath and ran in the direction of the shot.

I didn't even care that another shell had been fired in my direction and that it just barely missed me.

I didn't even care that somebody had now opened fire with a machine gun and was making dents in my armor.

I just wanted revenge.

I threw not one, but two anti-tank grenades when I was sure I'd found the perpetrator.

BOOM!

I sure got something…but what!?

A few seconds later, I spotted it:

It looked like an ISU-152, except it had a low-profile hull with more sloped armor plus that same "pike" as the IS-3 had.

It also had a large, long-barreled cannon.

Whatever it was, I was glad as hell that I torched it!

Unfortunately, Goliath was a mere shell of its former self.

Apparently defeated, but still alive, I drove whatever was left of Goliath back to my hideout.

* * *

I just couldn't believe it.

My old friend had been destroyed before, but not like this.

I could replace the whole turret & gun, but that would take a while.

Also, I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to replace that thing.

Maybe my escape from the Red Wolves, or any number of other actions that I'd committed in recent months had earned me some serious wrath.

I figured that it was time for me to go incognito again.

For now, I shelved Goliath and turned towards my other tanks.

For the first time in a while, I actually gave serious consideration to the KV-1.

The only problem with it was that its armament was underpowered, but you knew this already.

I started rummaging through all my spare blueprints until I found something that looked promising:

A 122mm U-11 howitzer.

Actually, the handbooks usually designated KV-1s with this weapon as "KV-9", but I preferred the name KV-1 just for consistency.

Based on the specifications, it looked like it would give me plenty of firepower until I could resurrect Goliath.

So, I grabbed whatever pieces of scrap metal I could get and started to fabricate the gun.

Once it was all mounted, all that remained was to gather ammo.

After much searching, I found the proper shells at a random ammo dump.

Now to test it out!

* * *

I went to Prokhorovka, my traditional stomping grounds.

I saw a nice mix of tanks, none above Tier Five.

I located an M4 Sherman and put it in my sights.

BOOM!

The shell didn't completely kill the Sherman, but it was certainly near death.

As I expected, reloading wasn't quick, but it took maybe half as long as the 152mm M-10.

I finished off the Sherman and proceeded to destroy everyone else on the battlefield.

Satisfied, I went home.

For the next few battles, I got plenty of use out of my KV-1.

It was almost like I was driving Goliath before it became a KV-2!

I shed a tear when I thought of my old friend, but I didn't let that get me down.

Even though I was driving a different tank, I never let go of my mission.

I was still going to look for W.G. and those shadowy figures, no matter where I went.

However, my search still rendered no results.

* * *

After a while, I decided to change gears and pick another tank.

Because it was too similar, I skipped the T-150 and chose the KV-3 instead.

You know, a funny thing happened with that tank:

I was engaging some foes from atop the hill at Malinovka when I heard some shots being fired from below me.

I peeked over the ledge and noticed a KV-4 engaging some targets.

That's when I got an idea:

I drove off the ledge and tried to hit the KV-4.

I only clipped it with the KV-3's barrel, which caused the tank to tip in the direction opposite the KV-4.

The impact was quite harsh on me, but my crew and I survived.

The KV-4 was now investigating the impact, so I decided to hijack it while it was surprised.

I opened up the rear hatch on the turret and sprayed inside the cabin with my PPSh-41, killing the crew.

Afterwards, I took control of the KV-4 and tested it out.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked the KV-4.

It felt like I was driving a battleship on land, and I remembered how that was the downfall for the leader of the Gulag's Rejects.

On the other hand, this tank was impervious to practically anything that the enemy could throw at it.

It also possessed superior firepower compared to the KV-3.

Judging by the ammunition it used and the shape of the gun, I concluded that this particular specimen was equipped with the 122mm D-25T.

While it wasn't completely effective against higher-tier tanks, it still packed plenty of power.

I destroyed the rest of the enemy forces here and drove home, abandoning the KV-3.

* * *

Back home, I tuned up the KV-4's engine…er, I should say "engines" because it was equipped with two V-2KF diesel engines.

Anyways, I tuned the engines and transmission, hoping to get better performance from them.

While the KV-4 was surprisingly fast going downhill, it was slower than the KV-2 or KV-3 when on flat ground or when going uphill.

After repairs and maintenance, I took the KV-4 out for further testing.

I still did not find W.G., but I tore up a lot of tanks in the process!

Those tune-ups also helped, despite not giving a huge boost in power.

* * *

At one battle in Erlenberg, I witnessed a most incredible sight:

There was a T-34 with what appeared to be a 57mm gun taking on tanks more powerful than itself.

I couldn't really tell, but it appeared that this one was going a bit fast for a T-34, but probably not as fast as a T-50.

Strangely enough, it was also able to kill these tanks with only one shell each, and its opponents appeared to be healthy for the most part!

The way this guy (lady, perhaps?) drove his tank, he drove it with such grace and ease that it was almost as if he were dancing with it, a sort of "tank ballet", if you will.

I tried to get a better look with my binoculars.

I'm not sure, but I saw what appeared to be some sort of "winged shield" emblem on the turret sides.

I thought I also saw the letters "SR" emblazoned on the shield, but the tank was going quite fast, so I may have been mistaken.

I just went back home before it spotted me.

After all, if anyone can do that sort of damage with a mere T-34-57, then I don't think I want to mess around with it.

* * *

Back home, I decided that now was the time.

I'd already spent enough time without Goliath, so I decided to grab all the scrap metal I'd collected and start fabricating a new turret & gun.

It took a while, but after a lot of blood, sweat and gears, my old friend was back to normal!

Well…except for certain imperfections that the old turret had picked up as battle scars, but that's another story.

After repainting the turret, I was all set to continue my search for W.G. and the shadowy figures!

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	46. Children of Alamogordo

I still couldn't find either of them, and at a seaside Cliff, I found nothing except a lone American SPG of unknown type.

Despite its apparent size & weight, it only took one shell to destroy it.

I continued patrolling the area, hoping to locate more enemy tanks.

At first, my search seemed hopeless, but then, I froze when I saw it:

The horde.

It was a group of American heavy tanks and tank destroyers, all travelling together!

I could pick out a few familiar types in the group: Terrible 29s, Terrible 25 ATs and Terrible 32s.

The rest were unfamiliar to me, and I wasn't just going to sit here trying to get a closer look!

As they were headed in my direction, I turned around and pushed Goliath's engine as hard as it would go.

I even dropped a few mines for them!

A couple of minutes later, I heard the satisfying sound of explosions as the mines detonated.

However, the horde kept going, so I adopted a new tactic:

I perched Goliath on a ledge overlooking the western pass and waited for the horde to come back around.

As they did, I targeted one of the tanks in the rear and opened fire.

However, the shell didn't kill it, so I withdrew before anyone spotted me.

In addition to this, I threw some anti-tank grenades, but some of these machines proved resistant to my grenades.

I continued fighting with all of my sneaky tactics: sniping, grenades and mines.

Soon, they were down to just one heavy tank, something with a new hull and a rounded turret.

I fired a 152mm shell at it, but didn't kill it.

Unfortunately, I was completely out of ammunition now!

This time, I got a radio call from the remaining tank:

"You kill friends! Now I kill you!"

"Come on, then! I'm not afraid of you!" I replied.

Actually, I was pretty scared.

Without any ammunition except for the machine guns (which were no good against tanks, anyways), I had no way to defeat this tank.

To save myself trouble, I just hid in a corner where I was sure he wouldn't find me.

Unfortunately, he found me anyways and fired a shot at Goliath, doing major damage.

When Goliath was shaken, I felt something hit my leg.

I had one last anti-tank grenade left!

I picked it up and threw it, which was a good thing because that heavy tank was coming right for me!

Unfortunately, the grenade flew over the tank and missed!

Now what!?

I had to do something…and fast!

Noticing that I was right next to the cliff itself, I got a great idea!

I put Goliath's engine into overdrive and hoped for the best.

Luckily, the enemy tank just barely missed Goliath, plunging off the cliff to its death!

Now, it was time to find out who this massive horde belonged to.

They were known as "The Manhattanists", an experimental group of super soldiers created by the US Military.

Judging by their mutated appearances and ragged uniforms, it seemed that the experiments had gone wrong somehow and that they'd escaped from their masters.

They did look quite strong, too, so it was easy to see how they could have escaped.

As I'd noticed, they were able to arm themselves with some high-tech heavy tanks & tank destroyers.

First of all, they had yet another heavy tank on the same chassis as the Terrible 29 and 32, called the T34.

Wait…WHAT!?

Are they serious!?

Did they really copy the name of one of the most well-known Soviet tanks!?

Granted, I was more concerned with the Soviet heavy tanks, but still, this seemed like a lazy decision on their part or a deliberate attempt to mislead people.

As a result, I decided to only refer to this tank as the "Phony 34", or the T36.

That aside, one of their tank destroyers was known as the "T28".

Actually, there were two tank destroyers bearing that designation, one without a turret.

The one I encountered was of the turreted variety, which, strangely enough, couldn't rotate its turret all the way around.

Sometimes, I just don't understand American tank designers.

I didn't care to re-designate that one because the T-28 medium tank wasn't as well-known as the T-34.

Their lone SPG was designated the T92.

Another tank destroyer was designated the T95, which was essentially a variant of the T28 with thicker armor, two sets of tracks and a wider choice of guns, including a fearsome 155mm gun.

I was lucky to have defeated it by myself.

Finally, their heavy tank was known as the M103, and given that it could mount a 105mm gun or two types of 120mm guns, I was also lucky to have survived an encounter with it.

* * *

Having triumphed once again, I returned home to repair and rearm.

However, a few days after I returned home, I began to feel sick for some reason.

I was feeling tired, and because I had to throw up, I removed my face shield.

It's a good thing I made it retractable because throwing up with that thing on would not have been fun.

I just ended up lying in bed for a while.

I suspected that the stress of battle was wreaking havoc on my immune system.

Or maybe it had something to do with The Manhattanists?

Whatever the cause, I just decided to take it easy, which was not such a good idea with W.G. still at large.

However, if I pushed myself too hard, I might end up dead, so I just lay there and accepted this brutal contradiction for now.

To make matters worse, I had another one of those dreams about the shadowy figures.

However, this one was different.

I could see a couple in the foreground, with more behind them.

I could only see part of their faces, though, because they were wearing hooded robes and the hoods covered a lot of their face.

They made the same demand, but this time, they had a whole speech:

"Tanker, we have been following thy movements. We are displeased with thou. Give in to our demands! Bring us the key or thou shalt perish! Do not attempt to flee us. We are everywhere and we are nowhere. For centuries, they have tried to hunt us! For centuries, they thought they had kept us down! But now, it is our turn! Once we have that key in our possession, then a new beginning shalt be ushered in! Tanker, we know thou hast this key. Deliver it to us or suffer an eternal fate! Decide now!"

Despite my sickness, the dream was oddly clear.

For some reason, I also knew where they were.

As I lay there in bed, I could only think one thing:

These people…they're trying to kill me…but I will kill them!

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	47. Armored Nightmares

When I recovered from my sickness, I prepared for the coming showdown with the shadowy figures that had been haunting my dreams.

If I was correct, they lived in an Abbey in Italy.

Aside from all my usual tricks of the trade, I opened up my safe and took the messages from W.G. with me, too.

I don't know why, but something told me that it would be a great idea.

Before going, I also wrote another note:

"To whoever finds this note:

If you are reading this, then I am most likely dead by now. I have brought along a few documents from an individual known only as W.G. Though I do not know who he is or where he comes from, I have discovered what his plans are: He plans to turn certain tank companies against each other until there are few survivors. That way, he can easily take over the world.

Please, I beg you, heed my words! Find out where W.G. is! You hold the fate of the world in your hands!

-Sincerely,

The Unknown Tanker"

I rewrote it as best as I could in English, French and German, just in case the person who found the note couldn't read Russian.

I figured that somebody, somewhere, would understand the message just fine.

I just hoped that the right person would find it in case the unthinkable happened.

* * *

With my documents concealed in my armor for protection, I headed to this Abbey.

When I got there, I heard the mysterious figures speak, but without using a radio:

"Our prey has arrived! Seize him, brothers! Make him pay for his transgressions!"

Uh-oh, I'll have to hurry!

After a quick observation of the area, I chose to go west because the apparent cliff on the east side might leave me open to snipers.

Going west, I encountered what I believed to be an AMX-13, but it appeared to be larger than that.

I fired a shell at it, which only destroyed its tracks, so I finished it with an anti-tank grenade.

"Thou hast destroyed some of our brothers! Now we shalt destroy thou!" continued the voices.

Moving on, I covered my path with some anti-tank mines to throw off pursuers.

Going down the western path, I encountered a T-44 medium tank coming for me.

I calmly took aim at it, and…

BOOM!

Strangely enough, I killed this tank in one hit!

But how can this be!?

I recalled the time when I engaged a T-43 near the Mannerheim Line.

In case you've forgotten, that one managed to survive a 152mm high-explosive shell from the front.

So how is it that this more advanced tank couldn't?

Oh wait…that's right! I must've destroyed the ammo rack!

I questioned why this machine would have poor ammo rack protection, but I headed on rather than wasting time asking questions.

Behind the T-44, there was a short uphill path to the left.

Though it slowed down Goliath, I took it anyways because I could probably get the drop on somebody else.

However, I found an AMX M4 1945 waiting to the right of me.

"Get him, brothers! Destroy the non-believer!"

The AMX fired at me before I could get sighted in, damaged Goliath and attempted to back away.

I managed to hit the AMX, but it was still moving.

I backed away, only to discover a T36 up the hill to my left.

"Surrender, thou sinner!" continued the voices, "Do not prolong thy pain!"

The T36 fired and damaged Goliath.

Goliath couldn't be doing so well at this point, so I had to act.

The presence of artillery was also very annoying, but considering how few shots they had fired, they must have slow firing rates.

Anyways, I took out the T36 with an anti-tank grenade, doing the same to the M4 1945 when it foolishly tried to charge me.

"Thy tricks and traps will not work against us forever! Thou must surrender the key eventually!"

Ha! We'll see about that!

I pressed on, undaunted.

However, at the next corner, I spotted an IS-4.

Suddenly, I had a flashback to my first IS-3 encounter.

Again, I realized that I might not get out alive, but I wasn't going to surrender this time!

I pointed the 152mm cannon at the IS-4, and…

BOOM!

I hit the IS-4, but could not kill it.

Rather, it killed Goliath.

Of course, my armored suit protected me, but I think that even this was slightly too much for it.

After Goliath was destroyed, I could hear the voices say: "Well done, brothers! Another sinner has been cleansed! Now, let us continue our search!"

Oh no I'm not!

Having faked my death, I waited as the IS-4 crew started to repair a track that was broken by the 152mm blast.

Then, when the time was right, I jumped out of Goliath and charged at them while firing my PPSh-41.

I must have emptied an entire magazine into them!

With the crew disposed of, I finished their repair job and continued the fight.

I didn't care about using any of my neat little tricks; I just charged at my remaining opponents like a madman and fired wherever I thought I would have a chance of doing damage.

When my first opponent spotted me, I heard some voices say: "WAIT! That is not one of our brothers! We have failed to kill the sinner! ELIMINATE HIM!"

I managed to kill a bunch of tanks in my blood frenzy despite taking major damage.

When I spotted a lone E-75, I charged it on foot and jumped atop it.

Ripping open the hatch, I stabbed a bunch of the crewmen with my knife.

I dragged the commander out and started beating his head against the side of his tank.

"Stay…out…OF…MY…DREAMS!" I roared while beating him.

Once this madman had fallen unconscious, I knelt down in fatigue.

When I regained my composure and calmed down, I decided to check out the ones who had been haunting my nightmares.

None of them had IDs of any sort, but I knew that they were a mixed-nation group.

I had no way of knowing if any of them were in fact "W.G.", but I figured that there was a good chance that I'd knocked him off during my rampage, too.

However, I had finally learned who they really were.

They were the "Federation of the Shadow Key", a secret religious cult that had gotten their hands on tanks.

So now I know what they meant by "the key", but I had no idea what the Shadow Key was for until I read their manifesto:

"FEDERATION OF THE SHADOW KEY:

OFFICIAL CHARTER

INTRODUCTION:

Brothers, the world as we know it is too sick to be worthy of life. The decadence that man's alleged progress bringeth upon us cannot be ignored. However, all hope is not forlorn, for there existeth a mighty artifact created for the purpose of cleansing all sinners from this world, that we may re-create it to suit our God.

HISTORY:

Long ago, in the vastness of time and space, our God sprung forth to create a new world, that an existence might serve to hold off the crushing force of nothingness. However, the creation of this world resulted in an unexpected byproduct: a powerful force that threatened to consume all life on this world. After a brutal conflict, our God had sealed this force in another dimension, but not before that force left behind a key to its dungeon. This key shall forever be referred to as the Shadow Key.

Years later, during the so-called 'Renaissance' period, a few wise brothers foresaw the ill effects that mankind's meddling would lead to. From that moment on, they swore their lives to save mankind from the gaping jaws of these ills. However, these brothers were unsuccessful in their attempts to save mankind peacefully. With little else to turn to, they came to the realization that the only way to save the world was to cleanse it of these sinners and re-shape it in the name of our God. Forevermore, they dedicated themselves to finding the Shadow Key. Unfortunately, they were persecuted by the purportedly well-intentioned authorities and the legend was assumed to be lost forever.

Until now.

Brothers, rejoice, for our noble leader Saxlar hath re-discovered the legend of the Shadow Key, locked away in a long-forgotten corner of a library that had touted itself as being a provider of free knowledge! Now, we may continue our divine quest to locate the Shadow Key, that we may yet save this world before it is too late!

TENETS:

Live for the key!

Die for the key!

Serve in the name of the key!

Let the key always be in thy thoughts!

Think only thoughts that have connections to the key!

Thou shalt have but one marriage: to the key!

Discard all possessions that interfere with our quest to locate the key!

Never let thy mind stray from those believed to have the key!

Never discard the key!

Never misplace the key!

Destroy the non-believers!

Destroy the persecutors!

Destroy the betrayers!

They must all die!

That is the way it should be!"

Wow, I have seen some acts of overzealous devotion, but these guys were taking it to new heights!

And I thought the followers of the Communist Party were excessively devoted!

But the question remains: Why me?

What reason could the Federation possibly have for suspecting that I have this "Shadow Key"?

Was it something I had?

Even I couldn't be totally sure.

Maybe the key didn't even exist!

Given their misguided zealotry, it couldn't possibly exist.

The tanks in their inventory were nothing new, for the most part, but there was a German SPG in their inventory called a "GeschutzWagen Typ E", part of the "Entwicklung" series.

Strangely enough, the SS panzer division "Wunderwaffen" had no info on this.

Another new tank was a new variant of the AMX-50, called the AMX-50/120.

Aside from its 120mm autoloading cannon, its design used elements from the IS-3, rather than the Tiger.

Their third new tank – the one I thought was an AMX-13 – was actually a 25-ton medium tank developed by Batignolles-Chatillon.

With the same speed as the AMX-13 plus the ability to mount a 100mm autoloading cannon, it sure seemed fearsome…aside from the one I blew up so easily.

During this time, I thought I heard the sounds of tanks driving in the distance, but I figured I was hearing things, and the sounds trailed off.

Besides, as far as I'm concerned, the war's over.

I just went to Goliath's remains and worked on bringing it back to life.

However, I must've missed something, because I turned around to find three American tanks facing me.

Their commanders got out, and the middle one, a fairly tall man, spoke to me:

"We've been expecting you."

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	48. Revelations

Immediately, I drew my PPSh-41 and pointed it at them.

They all put their hands up.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" said the guy in the middle, who was probably their leader.

"Yeah, we're with you!" said the guy to his right, a slightly shorter man.

"What do you mean you're with me!?" I asked. "Hell, I'm not with anybody! Besides, this war's over as far as I'm concerned!"

"The war's not over yet, soldier!" replied the leader.

"Look, do you see what I did back there!? Do you have any idea who those people were!? My mission is complete! We can go home for all I care!"

"No, not yet! You've still got a lot of work ahead of you! We can help you!"

"He's right, man!" said the third guy, who was around the same height as the guy on the leader's right.

"And why should I believe you!?" I asked.

"We've seen some of your feats," replied the leader. "Heard stories. We know you've had some tough times, but that's why we're here. If you join us, we can finish this war together!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we are absolutely sure."

"Do you swear to this?"

"Yes! Now please, put the gun away!"

"Do you swear on your life that this is true?"

"Yes! Now put the gun down!"

Hmmm…these Americans were quite persistent.

They sure seem like they're telling the truth, but there's still a very small part of me that doesn't seem to want to believe them.

Besides, what did I have to lose by accepting this offer?

Even if they were lying, well…I'd already gotten away from one company's base, and I'm sure I could get away from theirs!

Nah, they probably were telling the truth.

I lowered my PPSh-41 and said, "OK, I accept."

The Americans put their hands down, and their leader said, "Very well, then."

"Sorry I pointed my gun at you," I said. "I just had to be sure that you were telling the truth!"

"It's OK, we figured you might not believe us," said their apparent leader, "Not everybody believes us. However, not everybody made such an impolite introduction, either."

OK, I admit that it may have been a little heavy-handed, but as they always say, better safe than sorry.

"My name is Major Larry Boyesen, United States Army," said the leader, "I am the leader and founder of a clan called Yayax Squad. These are my deputy commanders: Captain Jonathan Lambert…"

He pointed to the guy on the right first.

"…and Captain Bryan Deveraux." he said, pointing to the guy on the left.

We all exchanged handshakes and greetings.

"What's your name?" asked Boyesen.

"I don't have one" I replied.

"You don't have a name?" said Lambert.

"No, I don't."

"Why not?" asked Deveraux. "Everyone's got a name! I'm sure you've got one, too!"

"Believe me, Captain Deveraux, I really don't have a name!"

"I also think you have a name!" said Lambert.

After a couple of seconds, Lambert said, "Wait, Bryan, didn't his tank have a name? I can't remember, but I'm sure it had a name!"

"It was Goliath," replied Deveraux. "Hey, maybe that's your name!"

"You're not the first one to say that," I said. "Unfortunately, you're wrong. My name isn't important."

"Well, whatever your name is, we have to get going now!" said Boyesen. "We don't have much time before someone else enters this area!"

"OK," I replied, "just let me repair Goliath and I'll come with you!"

"There's no time!" said Boyesen. "We've got to go!"

"Please? I promise this won't take long!"

"It's too risky, soldier! Besides, you won't need that machine anymore!"

"Major, this machine is like a friend to me! I beg of you, please allow me to repair it!"

After a few seconds, Boyesen replied: "Well…all right, but please hurry up! We don't have much time!"

"Thank you very much, sir!" I replied.

"You're welcome, I suppose. Lambert, Deveraux, establish a perimeter! Tell us if anybody's coming!

"Sir, yes sir!" The two deputies re-started their tanks and went to defend us while I worked on Goliath.

Due to Major Boyesen's warnings, I had to expedite Goliath's repairs.

As a result of this, I skipped on repairing certain parts of the tank for now, such as the mine dropper control switch.

Luckily, no other enemy forces arrived during this time.

"There…it's finished!" I said.

"Impressive!" said Boyesen. "With talents like yours, you could be a major asset to Yayax Squad!"

"Thank you" I replied, "But what is a 'Yayax', Major Boyesen?"

"No time for that now, soldier! We've got to move!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

* * *

We immediately decamped and started heading for Yayax Squad's headquarters.

I stayed in the back of the group.

However, Goliath's engine wasn't doing so well.

I could occasionally hear it backfire, not to mention that my old friend was running pretty roughly.

Maybe I should've spent more time on repairs.

In any case, Goliath's engine held together until we reached Yayax Squad's headquarters, which, if I paid attention correctly, was somewhere near the border of Italy and Germany.

The headquarters was located in an old castle, which – barring the barbed wire, searchlights and some fixed guns – didn't even look like a military HQ.

We stopped for a moment while Boyesen gave some secret signal, then proceeded when the drawbridge was lowered, allowing us past the huge wall.

Inside, I got another surprise when I saw part of the ground open up to reveal a ramp that went underground!

I followed Boyesen and his deputies underground.

Yayax Squad must've had good foresight, too, because the opening was tall enough for Goliath to come through.

Underground, we came to a concrete bunker that served as the motor pool.

There weren't a lot of tanks here, but they had some high-tech equipment here, including an IS-6, JagdTiger, E-50, and other tanks from the four major powers.

As far as I could see, nothing here was of a lower tech level than Tier Six.

With Boyesen, Lambert and Deveraux parked here, there were two empty spots left, so I parked Goliath in one of them and shut off the engine.

Boyesen and his deputies then approached me as I got out.

"OK," said Boyesen, "Now that we're here, I'd like…"

Suddenly, Boyesen was interrupted as Goliath's engine caught fire!

"FIRE! FIRE!" shouted Lambert and Deveraux.

I sprung into action and started looking for a fire extinguisher.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to re-stock Goliath with fresh extinguishers, so I had to look around the garage for one.

Boyesen and the others went to look for one as well.

Thankfully, I got one from the garage and suppressed the flames before they got out of control.

"Aw man, I was going to get some marshmallows!" joked Deveraux.

I was not in the mood for that sort of thing, so I stared at him for a second before putting the extinguisher back.

"OK," said Boyesen, "Now that we're here and this emergency has been taken care of, I'd like to show you around. Please come with us."

I followed Boyesen and the others as they took me on a tour of their headquarters.

* * *

Our first stop was the armory, which not only contained small arms and anti-tank weapons, but also tank ammunition.

The walls were lined with various charts and diagrams: Tank types, inventory listings, notices on handling munitions, gun blueprints, etc…

At the desk, there was a German seated here.

"This is Hauptman Conrad Thalberg, our quartermaster" said Boyesen.

"How do you do?" said Thalberg, who got up from his chair to shake my hand.

Not wanting to be impolite, I shook his hand and said, "Hi there."

Underneath my face shield, however, I had nothing but a cold stare for him.

I never trusted the Germans in the first place, and I was not very enthused by the prospect of working on the same team as any of them.

On the other hand, I suppose that Major Boyesen can keep them in line.

Speaking of the good major, he continued the tour and brought me to another room, which had a couple of large computers.

Despite the sheer mass of these machines, they could be controlled using display units that were no larger than a radio.

They could also be manipulated using a typewriter-style control mechanism.

Overseeing the whole operation was a Soviet officer whom I immediately recognized.

"This is Capitan Nikolai Kolbasyev, our chief intelligence officer and recruiter," said Boyesen.

"Hey, I remember you!" exclaimed Kolbasyev. "It's good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too!" I said as I shook his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier, comrade!"

"It's all right," replied Kolbasyev, "Considering the circumstances you were in, I wouldn't have believed it, either!"

"Kolbasyev told us about your escape from the Red Wolves," added Boyesen.

"Yeah, that was great stuff!" chimed in Lambert.

"Now do you see why we've been expecting you?" asked Boyesen.

"Yes," I replied, "but why me? Why not some other tanker?"

"Because," replied Boyesen, "we just happened to come across you. See, Yayax Squad is looking for recruits with good equipment and proficient tank skills, and when we saw you in battle, we decided to check you out. Ordinarily, we choose not to interfere when one of our prospects is engaged in battle, but if we feel that they really are valuable and they appear to be in great danger, then we might just take action."

"Wait, so you're telling me that you saved my life when I was capturing that KV-3 at Murovanka?" I replied.

"Yes," said Boyesen.

"And you guys also saved me from the Telemark Expeditionary Force back in Norway!?"

"That's right."

"We almost lost you in the snowstorm back there!" said Lambert.

"Well, thanks, I suppose," I replied. "Now, are you also going to tell me that you are the mysterious benefactors who gave…"

"Yes, soldier, we're the ones who gave you the T-150 and KV-1," said Boyesen. "We wanted to reward you for going above and beyond by capturing that KV-3."

"Hold it," I said, "are you actually saying that you people went into MY hideout!?"

"Yes, we did," replied Boyesen.

I was absolutely shocked!

My hideout was supposed to be a sanctuary – a place where I could take care of my tank and myself without getting shot at or blown up!

Yet these people went on in like it was nothing!

Noticing my silence, Boyesen added: "If it makes you feel any better, we didn't touch anything in your hideout and we didn't take anything. In fact, we had some of our best tankers establish a perimeter around your home!"

"He's right," said Deveraux, "we left everything alone!"

"Yeah! We can testify to that!" said Lambert.

Hmmm…on second thought, I didn't see anything missing or out of place after the parking spots for my new toys were installed, so I suppose they were right.

"Thank you," I said. "I feel good that you didn't touch anything. I suppose I can trust you."

"You're welcome, I'm glad that we can trust each other," replied Boyesen.

* * *

Having shown me this room, we continued our tour before finally ending up at the barracks.

In the barracks, there were already a few tankers here, including Oberleutnant Wilhelm Betzel of the German Army, Leytenant Magdalena Polyanskiy of my country's army, Oberleutnant Stefan Bergmann of the German army and Starshina Fyodor Tregubov of my country.

Tregubov seemed to recognize me, but I wasn't sure I'd seen him before until…

He pulled out something!

It was an Ace of Diamonds playing card!

"I'm glad you're alive!" I told Tregubov.

"The feeling is likewise, comrade!" he replied. "I shall enjoy fighting alongside you again!"

At this point, Boyesen spoke up:

"This is where our tour ends, soldier. You can do whatever you want for now, but be sure to report when called in, OK?"

"Yes, sir!"

Then, Boyesen and his deputies went away to attend to something else on the base.

Meanwhile, I told Tregubov, "I'll be going to the intelligence room. I'll be back soon, comrade."

"Very well," he replied.

* * *

After a little backtracking and trying to remember, I found the intelligence office.

"Pardon me, comrade," I said to Kolbasyev, "Would you mind if I looked up some information about tanks? I've encountered many of them, but I'm sure there are more."

"Permission granted," he replied. "Just don't give out this information to the wrong people, OK?"

"Affirmative!"

I'm fairly sure that Yayax Squad is not the only one with this sort of information, but I'll be sure not to give it out.

Anyways, my search returned some interesting results:

I found out about an American medium tank known as an M26 "Pershing", which was nicknamed by the British after an American general, John "Black Jack" Pershing.

Surprisingly, the Pershing had also been the basis for the T-series heavy tanks that I had seen, so why hadn't I seen the Pershing before?

That aside, I learned of another American medium, the M46 "Patton", named for one of America's best generals of this war.

Its choice of armaments included a 105mm T5E1M2.

Coincidentally, this was also the tank that Deveraux used.

The tank that Lambert drove was a T30, which was actually a heavy tank destroyer with a turret and was similar to the T29/T32/T36.

According to the entry for this tank, it was originally classified as a Tier Ten heavy tank, but had been reclassified as a Tier Nine tank destroyer.

Its armaments were the same ones as the Terrible 95.

The Tier Ten heavy tank for America was the T110E5, which resembled a smaller M103.

This tank was Boyesen's tank, too.

The databanks also mentioned a T110E3 and T110E4, but data on them was not much, the only real facts of note being that they were tank destroyers.

As for Germany, there wasn't much that I hadn't seen before, but I did find out about a new variant of the VK 4502, the "Ausf. B" variant, informally known as the "Hintern" variant.

This one had a Ferdinand-style arrangement with the engines in front of the turret, but aside from this and the choice of more powerful armament, it was principally similar to the VK 4502 Ausf. A "Vorne".

I also learned more about the E-100, which was classified as a Tier Ten heavy tank.

Aside from a 128mm gun, it could also mount a fearsome 155mm gun, which was probably not as accurate as the 128mm.

There was also a tank destroyer variant called the JagdPanzer E-100.

The database also had an incomplete entry on a Panzer VIII "Maus".

Little was known about it except that it was a Tier Ten heavy tank like the E-100.

Other incomplete entries included the E-50 Ausf. M, the Panzer IX & Panzer X.

France didn't have as many tanks that were new to me, but here's what they did have:

For their Tier Ten heavy tank, they had the AMX-50B, which followed the same design pattern as the AMX-50/100 and AMX-50/120, but used components from all countries.

When it came to tank destroyers, they had two based on the AMX M4 chassis: The AMX Anti-Char modèle 1946 & AMX Anti-Char modèle 1948.

There was also one based on the AMX-50, called the AMX-50 "Foch".

The armaments data suggested that it could carry a 155mm autoloader cannon, the thought of which made me sick.

As for SPGs, they had another Lorraine called the Lorraine 155 mod. 51, plus one based on the Bat-Chatillon's chassis, the Bat-Chatillon 155.

With technology like this, it makes me wonder when this war will really end.

Because I'd already acquired so much valuable intel during my escape from the Red Wolves, the Soviets didn't have a lot of missing pieces.

One of these was a T-54 medium tank, which resembled a T-44 with a dome-shaped turret.

Unlike the T-44, though, it was not available with a 122mm gun as a possible armament.

Another tank was a part of the IS series of heavy tanks: The IS-7.

The hull sort of resembled the IS-3's hull, but it had a new turret with a 130mm S-70 cannon.

The gun reminded me of a coastal artillery gun I'd seen once, which made me wonder what other Soviet tanks had naval artillery pieces mounted.

They also mentioned a new variant of the IS-4, also known as Object 701 No. 6

In contrast to my data on the IS-4, this one seemed to have thicker armor and also carried a new 122mm gun: The M62-T2.

Moving on to tank destroyers, they had an ISU-152 model 1945, also called Object 704.

I immediately recognized it as the tank that blew off Goliath's turret at Karelia!

Speaking of Goliath, I'd better attend to it soon.

There was an entry for another tank destroyer: Object 268, which had no data other than the name.

Having done all I wanted to for now, I decided to relax in the barracks.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	49. Rebirth

Here, in the barracks, I found only Leytenant Polyanskiy.

"Ah, hello again!" she said. "It's good to see you!"

"Likewise." I said.

Personally, I held a slight contempt for her just because she was a woman, but on the other hand, she was from my country, so that was a bonus.

Also, maybe I should open my mind to new ways of thinking about what women can do.

"I would like to talk to you," she said. "Do you mind?"

"Go right ahead, Magdalena." I replied.

"Please, call me Mila!"

"OK then, Mila."

"I wonder, where did you get that steel suit of yours?"

"I made it myself!"

"Really? How interesting!"

"Actually, this isn't my first one. I made a slightly different one before this, but I had to replace it because it was taking a lot of damage."

"I'm glad that you can take care of yourself like this! Now, what is your name?"

"I don't have one, and before you do, don't ask me why not. I just don't, OK?"

"That's…strange, but I think I understand. Now, what did you do before the war?"

"Oh, not much, really. After I graduated school, I joined the army right away. It's pretty much the only thing I know."

"Well, you seem like you've been in the army for a while. Have they taught you a lot?"

"Well, actually…I taught myself a lot of this stuff. You know, repairing the tank, fabricating new attachments for it, keeping it stocked, everything a good tanker should know."

"Amazing! You must be very talented!"

"I suppose I am, but as I have said before, the army is what I'm best at."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find a good job after the war! Now tell me, do you have a girlfriend back home?"

I got a knot in my stomach at this point, but I tried my best.

"No…not really," I said.

"Really? Why not?" asked Ms. Polyanskiy.

"Actually…there was this one girl…I suppose."

"Please, do tell me more."

"Well…you see…I saved her from enemy tanks, but then…I…"

"Yes?"

I got a few more knots in my stomach, but I kept going despite the pain of bringing up such a topic.

"I…well…you see, I…I lost her! I told her that she couldn't come along with me! I was doing it for her safety, but I probably sent her to her doom!"

"Oh, that is so sad!" said Mila, who reached out and tried to hug me despite the fact that steel wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing to hug.

However, I stopped her and told her, "Don't bother, I'll be fine. No…really! I do appreciate the sentiment, but I assure you that I'll get through this!"

Mila replied, "Well, if you ever change your mind, I'll be there!"

"Yes, thank you very much" I said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

"OK then! It was nice meeting you, whoever you are!"

"Likewise!"

* * *

I got up from my bunk and went to the motor pool to start working on Goliath.

However, Goliath's parking spot was empty!

It wasn't long, though, before I located Goliath in a nearby repair bay.

However, the technicians were just standing around, looking at my old friend.

I asked one of them, "Why are you standing around?"

"I don't know," said one of them, an American, "I just don't know about this thing."

"Why not?"

"I mean, look at it! It looks like it's been through two wars, not to mention the crazy repair job you did to it!"

"I know that's not my best work, but I was in a hurry at the time! Believe me, I know a lot about repairing these vehicles! I could have it fully operational again!"

"You sure, pal? I think you'd better take another look at this heap of junk!"

"Hey, watch what you say about this thing!"

"Look, I'm just not sure this is gonna happen! Try taking another look at it!"

"Very well, for your sake, I will take another look!"

I took a more thorough look at Goliath.

Hmmm…maybe he was right.

Even with my half-finished repairs, I guess it had been through so much.

Maybe it needed more than repairs.

I figured that now was the time to rebuild Goliath completely.

"Wait, I've got a great idea," I said to the technicians. "Do you have any steel or other raw materials around here?"

* * *

With that, we started working on Goliath.

Rather than simply repairing damaged parts, we disassembled my old friend completely, discarded any parts with significant damage or wear, brought in fresh parts and fabricated new parts if we didn't have any spares lying around.

We kept the basic hull, though.

It was a complex job, but with multiple people working on it, it went quite smoothly.

I even stepped in to guide somebody if they were having any sort of difficulty.

While the rebuild was underway, though, Boyesen came in and requested to speak to me.

The other technicians stopped for a moment.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want to show you something," he said.

I instructed the other guys to keep working while I was away and to come get me if they were really stuck.

In the meantime, Boyesen brought me to a secluded vehicle bay.

"We got this for you," said Boyesen, pointing to the Soviet tank parked in the bay.

I immediately recognized it as a KV-series tank, judging by the chassis.

It had an elongated chassis like the KV-4, but it had a gigantic turret, plus an enclosed machine gun turret in front of the main turret.

This must be a KV-5!

"I'm sorry, Major, but I cannot accept this," I said.

"We got you this tank because we felt that you deserved something better," replied Boyesen. "Doesn't a tanker as good as you deserve a tank like this?"

"Major, I understand what you're saying, but I do not feel that this tank suits me."

"Why not? It has better armor, a better gun, it's a better tank all around."

"Believe me, Major, if you'd been with Goliath as long as I have been, you would understand. Trust me, I…"

I trailed off for a few seconds.

"Although, I think you folks should keep this tank for me in case I ever change my mind. Can you please do that?"

"Yes, we can do that for you," he replied. "However, our space is limited in this castle."

"Don't worry, Major, I'm sure you'll figure something out!"

"I sure hope so."

We returned to the repair bay, where I assisted the technicians with the rest of the rebuild, plus the repainting.

They even had a proper camo net for me!

When it was all done, Goliath looked just like it had rolled out of the factory!

Well…except for the addition of the mine dropper.

"Hey, that machine looks awesome!" said the American technician that I'd spoken to earlier. "I didn't think you knew anything about repairing these tanks!"

"Thank you, too!" I said. "This machine was like a friend to me! There's just one thing missing, though."

"What?"

"Do you have any white paint?"

"Sure."

After I got the paint, I repainted Goliath's name - in Russian - back on the turret.

"What's that say?" asked the American.

"It says 'Goliath'," said another technician, a Russian.

"That's the name of my tank." I added.

"Oh, that reminds me," said the American, "My name's Garrett, Luther Garrett. What's yours?"

"I don't really have one, but don't let it puzzle you," I said.

"OK then. By the way, that's Ulf," he said, pointing to the German technician, "and that's Mikhail," he said as he pointed out the Russian technician.

As usual, we exchanged handshakes and greetings.

"That is an unusual sort of armor you have," said Mikhail, "I never imagined that Soviet industry would create something so innovative!"

"Actually, I made this suit myself," I said.

All three of the technicians were awed.

"Well, since you know a lot about repairing tanks, I should've known you'd make something so nifty!" said Garrett.

"Could you take it off?" asked Ulf. "I wish to see what you look like."

"Sorry, but I remove this armor for no one."

"Well, can you make us a suit like this?" asked Mikhail.

"Yeah, this could help us out a lot!" exclaimed Garrett.

"I would love to," I said, "but this is not for everyone. It's heavy, so you must be strong enough to overcome the weight. Besides, I don't have time; I must attend to other matters!"

"Well, it was nice seeing you, pal!" said Garrett.

With my tank finished, I went to find Boyesen…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	50. Riding Out

I found Boyesen in the cafeteria, chatting with Lambert and Deveraux.

I was hungry anyways, so I went to one of the food servers, who served me with an odd sort of meat called "Spam", some beans and a cup of coffee.

I have had better meals out in the wild, but this was acceptable to my palate.

I sat down at Boyesen's table and said "hi" to everyone, who likewise said "hi" back to me.

Eating was kind of awkward because I had to be careful not to show my face to anyone here, either.

"Why not just take off your face mask?" asked Lambert.

"I can't do that, Captain Lambert," I said. "I know that it's not comfortable eating like this, but I'll deal with it."

The "Spam" tasted a bit odd, like some unknown type of ham, but like I mentioned earlier, it was good enough.

In between bites, I had some questions for Boyesen and his deputies:

"You say that the war's not over yet, Major. Why do you say this?

"Because," he replied, "there are still a lot of tanks fighting out there. Also, remember all those tank companies and clans you've encountered?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"There are still more members and tanks in a lot of these clans, not just the ones you defeated in battle."

"Ah, that makes sense."

To tell the truth, it did make perfect sense.

After all, I had fought Die Apfel Korps twice when I was traveling through the desert.

Also, I had to fight the Soviet-American Alliance twice on my excursion into Scandinavia: Once when I was first entering Karelia, and another time when I was coming home from Norway, not counting any stragglers I encountered coming back from my first time heading to the Mannerheim Line.

Of course, we certainly can't forget the good old Red Wolves.

After all, they had lots of personnel working for them, in addition to a large motor pool.

Now, the next question:

"What do you know about this 'Manhattan Project', Major?"

Major Boyesen was silent for a few seconds until he responded: "Sorry, but I am not at liberty to discuss that with you, soldier."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" I asked.

"I said, I am not at liberty to discuss that subject," he replied. "Now please, can we move on to another matter?"

I guess the major was truly uncomfortable discussing that one.

That, or it was top secret, which got me all the more curious.

In the interest of not antagonizing Boyesen, though, I asked him this instead:

"Major, I've been wondering: What exactly is a 'Yayax'?"

"It's a mysterious beast," replied Boyesen. "We don't know much about it, other than the fact that it's said to live in forests and eats tanks."

I do remember seeing some sort of beast depicted on Yayax Squad's logo that appeared to be eating a tank. No doubt this was it.

"I think I ran into something like that once," added Deveraux. "It was April 1943, I think. I was operating in an Alpine forest somewhere in Italy when my Sherman was hit by some tank I couldn't see. My tank survived, but barely. Another shot wrecked the thing, killing some of my men. Damn, I was lucky I even survived!"

"Captain Deveraux, I think I might know the identity of this hidden killer," I said.

"Really?" asked Deveraux. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but I think your tank was destroyed by a Tiger tank. I've seen these make short work of T-34s before, and maybe a Sherman or two."

"Holy crap! I never even had a chance against him! Do you know how many Shermans it takes to kill that kind of steel?"

"No, I have never calculated that. I may do so when I have the time, though."

"Well congratulations, Bryan!" exclaimed Lambert. "It takes some real nerve to go up against a Tiger with a Sherman and live!"

"Yes, very good," I said. "Now, let us move on to another topic. Major, have you heard of an individual going by the name of 'W.G.'?"

"No, not that I can think of," replied Boyesen. "Why?"

"Well, I have something important to show you."

"Can it wait until after I finish my meal?"

"I'm not too sure. I'd hate to interrupt you, but on the other hand, I don't know how much longer we can go on without showing you."

"Well, all right. What do you have?"

I showed Boyesen the communiqués I'd intercepted from "W.G.", including the bulletin about me.

"Interesting. But what does this…"

All of a sudden, Kolbasyev came rushing in.

"Major! Major!" he exclaimed. "You're not going to believe this, but we're getting a flurry of messages from this one source!"

"Do you have any copies of these messages?" asked Boyesen.

"Yes, in fact, I have one right here."

Kolbasyev handed over the intercepted message, which was as follows:

"Agent 644:

You should now be directing further attention towards the western sector. Enemy military forces of varying national origins have been making swift and aggressive incursions from the northern part of this sector in the past few months, and my estimations show that the resulting infighting that will result from this influx of forces will be highly detrimental to our objectives. If such infighting is allowed to fester any further, then we will lose the serpentine grip that we have exerted over this territory. Make use of your most elite units and do not hesitate to requisition help from our other agents. If we can curtail these forays into our territory, then we shall be better prepared to consolidate our remaining assets.

Even if our situation seems dire, remember: We are the true ones. Our clan shall prevail in the end.

-With regards,

W.G."

Afterwards, I spoke up:

"Comrades, this is all a ruse."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Kolbasyev.

"Capitan Kolbasyev's right," added Boyesen. "How do you know that?"

I told them about "W.G."'s grand plan to get various tankers to eliminate each other and take over the world.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Lambert.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Deveraux.

"How can this be going on!?" wondered Kolbasyev.

"That's terrible," said Boyesen, who also added: "But do you have any proof?"

"Believe me, Major," I began, "I have analyzed the manifestos of tank companies working for W.G. and I have found some of them to be incompatible with each other. I have even brought a few copies here myself! Please, have a look!"

It was true, I did have copies of the manifestos for the Red Wolves and Holy Roman Alliance with me at this moment.

In fact, I had collected at least one copy of a manifesto from every tank company & clan that I had fought as proof of their defeat.

The one exception was the Red Wolves.

I did get some copies of their manifesto, but I had procured these during my escape from their secret headquarters as proof that I had escaped from them.

Their first defeat did not come until later.

Now, everyone seemed to be satisfied with this evidence, but Lambert asked, "Wait, wouldn't they be putting those differences aside and working together to rule the world?"

"No no no, Captain Lambert," I replied. "Believe me, the Red Wolves are too devoted to their cause. They would never permit any incursion onto Soviet soil, and once they found out their comrades' true intentions, that's when W.G.'s plan will come into action."

"Then there's no question," said Boyesen. "Gentlemen, come with me, we're going on full alert!"

Suddenly, a French officer came running up to Boyesen.

"Monsieur Boyesen," he said, "you must read this! It's important!"

"How important is this, L'Heroux?" replied Boyesen. "Can it wait?"

"Non, it is a clan challenge!"

"Very well, give it to me, then."

In this world, clans often issued challenges to one another.

Basically, a challenge announced a clan's intent to try to invade the territory of the clan they were challenging.

It was considered very rude for a clan to reject a challenge, for they might be seen as cowards.

In the meantime, Kolbasyev told me, "By the way, comrade, this is Marechal des Logis Armand L'Heroux. He is part of my division."

"How do you do?" I said.

"Ça va bien. It is good to meet you!" he replied as we shook hands. "That is a fantastic uniform you have! Where did you get it?"

"I made it myself," I replied, "but I'll explain later. Right now, it looks like Boyesen's got something else on his hands, maybe in ours, too."

Speaking of Boyesen, he spoke up:

"Well, soldier, it looks like your little superhero campaign will have to wait."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "The fate of the world rests on this so-called 'superhero campaign'…whatever that means!"

"I know how you feel, soldier," replied Boyesen. "However, I care about this clan, and part of that means that I have to accept challenges from other clans no matter what!"

"Well…okay…I suppose. I do hope that you are prepared to accept the consequences of your actions, anticipated or not."

On the other hand, I was grateful to be going into battle with these folks, especially now that Goliath was refurbished!

Plus, this clan might just get us another shot at "W.G."!

"Well, this is it, men," said Boyesen. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"

Boyesen gathered up his best tankers…well…he gathered up just about all of the tankers in his clan, and we drove off to war.

* * *

The clan in question that we were to engage was the 1st Imperial Guards Regiment.

This clan was just one of a number of "guards regiments" that had spawned in just the past couple of months.

Though the exact national composition of each "guards regiment" varied, they had one common goal: Put an end to these dark times.

However, they had questionable motives for wanting to do so.

Heck, since they chose to challenge us, I figured that they must have something else in mind.

Anyways, our battle was to take place at a Cliff, the same Cliff where I had fought The Manhattanists.

When we got there, I couldn't see any corpses of tanks that had belonged to The Manhattanists.

Actually, I'd returned to the same battlefields a number of times only to see that the blown-up hulks of tanks I'd faced had mostly disappeared.

My guess is that there were groups of tank recovery specialists who dragged tanks that were destroyed or inoperable off the battlefields.

That, or people simply tore pieces off of these dead tanks until there was nothing left.

Then again, both cases could be correct.

In any case, when we got there, Boyesen gave us all a message over the radio:

"Fireteam leader Alpha to all units, standard five-by-three formation! Stack up, over!"

Everyone gave an "affirmative" signal and got into position.

Goliath & I were positioned near the center.

For a few minutes, things were quiet.

"Fireteam leader Bravo here, I don't see anything in my sector, over!" said Lambert.

"Fireteam leader Charlie, the situation is normal! All clear in this area, over!" said Deveraux.

About half an hour later, still nobody had showed up.

"Hey, where are these guys?" asked one tanker.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get bored!" said another one.

"Maybe those cowards refused to honor the challenge!" said another.

"Stay sharp, tankers!" said Boyesen, "They'll be coming at any moment! Fireteam leader Alpha out!"

A few minutes more, and nothing happened, until…

A T-54 appeared!

"There's one!" exclaimed a tanker.

However, nobody fired a shot at it before it quickly disappeared behind the large stone formation in the center-west area.

"Why did none of you shoot?" asked another tanker.

"Patience, troops," said Deveraux, "That must have been a diversion!"

"Fireteam leader Charlie is correct," said Boyesen. "Do not, I say again, do not engage targets unless you are positive that they are engaging us and you have a shot!"

Everyone gave an "affirmative" of some sort or other, but some did so reluctantly.

About a minute or so later, a Bat-Chatillon 25-ton showed up and went to the same area that the T-54 drove over too.

Around the same time, that's when the mayhem began.

"Bravo Three, I've been hit!"

"Where did the shot come from?"

"I don't know, I couldn't see him!"

"This is fireteam leader Alpha: All units, fire 'em up! Fireteam leader alpha out!"

So, for the next few minutes, which seemed to slow down a bit due to how intense the battle was, we tried to reduce the 1st Imperial Guards Regiment to scrap metal.

"Get some fire on him!"

"I'M HIT!"

"We got 'em real good!"

"To the left!"

"Fire in the fuel tank!"

"I got the bastard!"

"TAKE THIS!"

"Oh God, we're hit!"

"I think that went right through!"

"Bye bye, bad guy!"

"SOMEONE HELP US OUT OVER HERE!"

"Come on, hold it together!"

"That'll show 'em!"

"Look out, he's a tricky one!"

This sort of chaos continued throughout most of the battle…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	51. Three R's

Eventually, the madness subsided, and there could be only one:

In the end, we were the victors!

However, at what price?

"This is fireteam leader Alpha to fireteam leaders Bravo & Charlie: Lambert, Deveraux, give me a casualty count, over!"

Lambert & Deveraux looked our guys over before Lambert spoke up:

"Sir, we've lost Bohater, Mackson, Preussler, D'Coolette, Lezinenko and Betzel."

"We also lost Quentin and Dobrzeszki," added Deveraux.

"OK, thank you for your investigation," said Boyesen.

* * *

After the battle, we dealt with the bodies in whichever manner was requested by our fallen friends.

Some, we buried or cremated at the battlefield and held a solemn, impromptu burial ceremony for them.

Others were hauled back to HQ for further processing, where they were to be shipped back to their closest living family members and those poor souls notified of the terrible losses they incurred.

Even with all the stuff I'd seen, it still gave me pains to think about anyone in this mad world being told that their loved ones had died.

It also gave me pains when I involuntarily thought of my loved ones.

I hadn't seen them ever since I joined the armored divisions, though I did keep in contact with them as best as I could possibly manage.

When the Dark Times came about, I lost all knowledge of their whereabouts.

I felt like crying because of what might have happened to them.

On the other hand, they weren't exactly the best people in the world, so it was a bit difficult to feel sad for them.

That aside, Yayax Squad brought along some heavy transport trucks to cart away the remains of the blown up tanks, in the hopes that these wrecks could keep giving life to battle-worn but still functioning vehicles.

That answers my question, I suppose.

Speaking of tanks, our opponents had some pretty impressive equipment, such as an IS-4 No. 6, an AMX-50 "Foch" and a Löwe, but nothing that wasn't in my files.

And speaking of battle wear, Goliath had taken some serious damage during the battle, but thanks to the recent re-build, it held together about as well as a new tank.

Before leaving, I checked the corpses of our foes, but there was no evidence to indicate that they were members of W.G.'s cadre.

* * *

Then, we all headed back to HQ, where Boyesen had a little speech for the survivors:

"Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on winning this difficult battle. Our analysis showed that these tankers were trained professionals, which makes our victory all the better. I am proud to be commanding such a fine group of tankers!

Having said that, there is one issue that I would like to address: We lost over half of our tanks during that battle. That may not sound like such a big deal to you, but we are still a small clan. At this point in the war, we cannot afford to keep taking losses like this, especially when we have advanced equipment in our motor pool! Because of these harsh losses, we will have to learn how to fight without superior numbers. We don't know the troop strengths of every company and clan out there, but you can be damn well assured that they will be able to field a full complement of tanks for every battle, something that we cannot do.

In addition to honing our battle skills, we should also focus on our recruitment skills. A wise man once told me that there were three 'R's in the military: Recruitment, recruitment and recruitment. When I started this clan, I saw he was right. Even though we didn't recruit a lot of tankers, it appeared that we recruited some fine ones. Unfortunately, we also lost some fine ones, too. While it was sadly too early for me to tell whether some of our fallen allies were fine tankers, I can tell you this: Each and every one of us is going to stay alert for some worthy replacements! Be sure of who you single out, though. Not everyone has their heart in the right place.

Speaking of hearts, our mission is going to be a little different from now on. One of our recent initiates has uncovered a devious scheme of worldwide proportions. We are going to challenge the best companies & clans out there and defeat them until the world is safe! To do this, we have to get the best tankers on our side! I am not lying to you people when I say that we hold our fate and the world's fate in our hands! This isn't about stopping Hitler or Mussolini or Hirohito now! This time, we may have to stop a great chunk of the world's population, and I'm counting on all of you to get out there and succeed! Is that understood?"

Boyesen got a resounding "SIR, YES SIR!" from us all.

"OK! Make me proud! Heck, make yourselves proud, too!"

Boyesen also got a nice round of applause.

I clapped a little longer than my compatriots.

After the speech, I told Boyesen: "Wonderful speech, comrade! It's been a long time since I've heard one like that!"

"You're welcome, soldier," he replied. "Those aren't just words, now. You're the one who cued us in to this dastardly scheme, and you've got to help us out! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

From this moment forward, we trod over the same grounds that I'd covered before I met Yayax Squad.

Due to our shortage of manpower, I used plenty of anti-tank grenades + anti-tank mines to trip up our foes.

We fought various companies and clans, some of which were allied with "W.G", and others who were not.

Some companies & clans – such as the Blitzkrieg Boys, the Armored Shadows, and the Soviet-American Alliance – did indeed make a return and were more powerful than ever.

The third of them was also very angry, and I knew why.

Other companies – such as the Farmers' Brigade, the SS panzer division "Vidkun Quisling" and the Telemark Expeditionary Force – did not come back.

Throughout it all, we got some quality tankers with powerful tanks to join us, including a guy with an Object 704 and another with a Terrible 95.

As we tore through Europe, our clan grew in strength.

Not only that, but some existing members even got more advanced machines.

For example, Bergmann got a Tiger II with a 105mm gun, and my friend Tregubov got a T-43 with a 100mm gun.

This growth also meant that we had to expand our roots, too.

The pinnacle of our campaign was when we fought the Red Wolves on their own turf.

I got very nervous about seeing them again, but with the kinds of tankers we had working for us, I gained a little confidence back.

This battle was perhaps tougher than the one we had against the 1st Imperial Guards Regiment, but we crushed them for good.

Boyesen asked for another casualty count, to which Deveraux replied: "Only two, sir: Lemieux and Weisserwulf."

* * *

After the battle, we took some of the Red Wolves as prisoners and captured some of their vehicles for our own use.

I still refused to trade Goliath over, though.

We also brought over stuff from our old headquarters, which was a difficult job because some of it couldn't traverse bridges.

To avert this problem, Yayax Squad used an unusual sort of aircraft to haul supplies: A wingless aircraft with a large propeller on top plus a smaller propeller on its tail.

After some inquiry, I learned that this sort of aircraft was known as a "helicopter".

Fascinating vehicle, it was.

In our new HQ, I took a little tour to get a better idea of the layout.

I even showed some of my comrades how I'd escaped from this place and some of the tricks I'd employed.

It brought back a painful memory or two, but I'm glad we stopped the Red Wolves for good!

Tregubov found an unusual gray rectangular device in one of the offices.

It was labeled as a "Game Boy", but this electronic implement bore no resemblance to a child.

After giving a thorough inspection of it, I located the power switch and activated it.

The only thing that happened was that a black rectangle descended from the top of its display, whereupon the machine beeped as the rectangle stopped in the center of the display.

I shut the device off and left it, wondering if it was perhaps related to the "Chevrolet Bel Air" from 1972.

In the meantime, I took a special red banner as a souvenir of victory.

It had the Red Wolves' emblem on it plus the text "За стаи!"*

This period of calm, however, was shattered when Boyesen came to me about something.

"Well, I think we've gone and done it this time," he said.

"Done what?" I asked.

"Just read this."

He gave me the following letter:

"Dear Mr. Boyesen:

We are the Old Masters.

Throughout the years, we have been monitoring the actions of humanity very closely. Unfortunately for you and your pitiful friends, we had decided that your kind was unfit to live and govern itself, so we have been undertaking a sacred mission to assume our rightful mantle as the rulers of the human race.

However, our efforts had stalled due to the misplaced determination of your race. Members of our clan had participated in the major conflicts of your planet, and through these engagements, we had been temporarily bested as a consequence of the surprising mental and physical fortitude that members of your kind had exhibited. Now, your reign of tyranny is at an end.

In this current campaign, we had finally fashioned the perfect plan. Alas, counter to our expectations, we witnessed as you so brutally massacred our faithful disciples. On the other hand, we are satisfied to see that you have unwittingly done our bidding for us. Thanks to your well-intentioned plan of battle, we can truly carry out our plan to fruition. Our disciples were useless and were in fact an obstacle to our plan. Since they have been subdued, you are hopeless to stop us now.

We offer you now a chance to continue your unwarranted existence: Surrender to us and permit us to adopt the station of the world's rulers – the very same position that your kind has proven gravely incompetent to hold. If neither you nor your allies will agree to our charitable offer, then we shall have no choice but to terminate you mercilessly.

Should you wish to combat us and die honorably, though, we can be located at the Province of Campania, in the realm you refer to as "Italy". Otherwise, we shall obliterate you as cowards, your surviving folks shall be forever branded as cowards and all their descendants shall be branded as cowards until the end of existence itself.

Remember this:

We shall never forgive.

We shall never forget.

Expect us.

-With lowest regards,

W.G.

P.S., When you go to Hell, be sure of yourself. You'll be there forever."

On the one hand, I was not excited by the prospect of having to face a foe more powerful than any I had ever encountered before and having to face a steep penalty for failure.

To be honest, I knew that this was going to happen eventually, but W.G.'s letter really pounded it into my consciousness.

On the other hand, I had friends helping me out, plus, I was finally about to draw this whole saga to a close!

"Well," I asked Boyesen, "what is your choice?"

"It's your choice too, soldier," he replied. "What is it?"

"We fight."

* * *

*EN: "For the Pack!"

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	52. Kingdom Come

Practically every member of Yayax Squad agreed that we should fight.

Even if W.G. and the Old Masters did kill us all, that would just prove one thing:

We weren't cowards.

There would always be people like us to take him down!

However, I feared that if Yayax Squad were broken, then no one else would be willing to stand up to W.G.

I just hated to think what would happen to the world if W.G.'s cadre took over, so I was determined to destroy this madman even if it meant death.

When we got to the Province where W.G. was located, we set up for what could be the Battle to End All Battles.

The area consisted of two small villages on either side of a "valley of death", plus more houses in the valley itself.

There was also one castle on each side of the valley.

Given this setup, each side had plenty of cover.

While everyone got into position, we heard a voice – most likely W.G. – speaking to us without the use of a radio.

"Welcome, Yayax Squad! I see you have accepted our little challenge! Come now, and prepare to face your annihilation!"

W.G. had a commanding voice, definitely male, spoken with what sounded like an American accent but with palpable traces of something European, more likely German.

Whoever he was, he was now going to face his defeat!

All of the battles that I had had up to this point, whether solo or with friends, could not compare to this one.

The Old Masters lived up to their name, driving some powerful tanks with probably the best guns: The IS-7, E-100, AMX-50B, T-54, Terrible 30, Terrible 95, etc…

Worse, some of our tanks weren't exactly at their level, Goliath included.

We had one of our most hectic battles as a result.

"There they are – shoot to kill!"

"Give me some covering fire!"

"Oh no, that one didn't go through!"

"Get me some backup NOW!"

"All right, I got one!"

"They made their last mistake!"

"Target sighted, engaging!"

"He's over there! Get him!"

"Watch out for that 704!"

"Shoot the gas tank!"

"Take them down!"

"Oh man, he's dead!"

"Get a medic over here!"

"One down! Find another target!"

"Help, they blew up our engine!"

"What's going on over there!?"

The presence of an SPG on their team was unhelpful, but we neutralized the weapon, which happened to be a GwTiger.

During the course of the battle, somebody blew up the castle on the opposite end of the valley.

Again, despite the intense difficulty, I survived along with most of the team.

Many of the surviving Yayax Squad tankers started cheering:

"All right, we did it!"

"Yeah, we got those guys good!"

"That will teach them!"

However, there was just one more problem remaining:

"YOU FOOLS! You haven't gotten away with this just yet! Did you believe that I would really permit you to escape your fate that effortlessly!? Did you ever stop to reflect upon who initiated this chaos in the first place!? I have not expended all these hours just to witness my grand plan crumble into dust! Now, it is my turn to strike! Come now, humans! Embrace your bitter defeat at the hands of me, the Warlord Greth'narq, and you shall forever understand that there can only be one true master!"

From the blown-up castle on the other side, I witnessed one final tank emerging from the debris.

Looking through my binoculars, I identified it as a Porsche Tiger, but it was unlike any Porsche Tiger that I had seen up to this point.

For one, it had side skirts over the tracks, whereas ordinary Tiger Is lacked these.

Additionally, it also appeared to be armed with a 105mm gun, normally impossible with a Henschel or Porsche Tiger I.

Most striking of all though, was its paint color: White.

All of a sudden, I got chills through my spine.

I've heard of this before.

In the days leading up to the collapse, and for days afterwards, I'd heard stories.

There were a few tankers – mostly Soviet – who claimed to have engaged a "White Tiger" in combat.

Unfortunately, few of them ever survived.

Those who did, however, described their weapons as being ineffective against this mythical beast, whereas it could tear through them like paper.

Initially, I held these stories to be untruthful, but as I traveled the continents and witnessed some strange things, I had given it another look.

Never did I dream of ever engaging it in combat, though, nor did I ever think it would be the Warlord Greth'narq, as I learned "W.G." was called.

Then again, I'm not driving a run-of-the-mill T-34, so I might just be able to put an end to him with Goliath, as I had done to ordinary Tigers.

Then again, maybe not, but that's why I have friends working with me now.

Speaking of which, we opened fire on that White Tiger just as it was heading down into the "valley of death", which would have been suicide for ordinary tankers.

A bunch of our shots missed, but a bunch of them, including mine, hit Greth'narq's tank.

However, the first volley appeared to have little, if any effect, and Greth'narq simply taunted us:

"HA HA HA! Did you truthfully believe that you could best me!? Your weapons are unimpressive! You cannot kill a god! Such a childish folly! There is no escape from the fate that you have wrought for yourselves! Surrender now, while I still possess the gracious mercy to do so!"

A god!?

Is this what he thought himself to be!?

If so, maybe he's right.

Maybe our fate is inevitable.

Even so, it would do us no good to sit there and bow to him.

No, we were going to fight to the last man - or woman, in Polyanskiy's case - if that's what it came to.

Besides, Greth'narq probably had an over-sized ego and was probably not immortal.

On the other hand, his first shot at us meant he was probably right.

"DAMN IT! He got Bergmann!" exclaimed Lambert as Bergmann's Tiger II was destroyed.

I didn't think Bergmann's tank had even taken that much damage, but then again, you know as well as I do that it did no good to question these things.

Rather, I just took aim and fired again, as did my surviving clanmates.

Once again, though, Greth'narq appeared to have taken little damage.

Instead, he destroyed an American tanker named Hendrickson, who was driving an M103.

"Foolish humans, this challenge is not in your favor! Why do you persevere!? Why do you continue to deny your inevitable fate!? Nothing can stop me! No weapon or implement can save you from this inevitability! I am still feeling merciful at this time, so I would graciously advise you to forsake your primitive vehicles of war!"

No way we're doing that!

I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure that we can defeat Greth'narq somehow.

We'll just keep firing!

And so we did, enduring another round of his taunting as we failed to do any appreciable damage.

"Your persistence is severely annoying! I have attempted to be generous with your kind, and yet you go on with your defective ideologies! Very well, then! If this is the manner in which you behave toward others, then I shall take pleasure in treating you likewise! Muhahahaha!"

He fired another shot and hit one of us…

Oh no! He killed Tregubov!

That bastard!

If Goliath's cannon wasn't hampered by its 20-second reload time, I would intensify my efforts against him!

We continued raining fire unto him as he advanced towards us, when suddenly, he did something unexpected:

"Ah…I see you have returned! You…the one who commands 'Goliath'! I should have foreseen that you were the impetus for this rebellion! It's such a shame that Agent 403's company could not keep you imprisoned for long! Come, do not deny yourself any further! If you forged an alliance with me, we could be unstoppable!"

"NEVER!" I shouted. "I joined the military to ensure that the ones I cared about were safe, and I'm going to finish this job!"

"Very well," said Greth'narq. "However, I doubt that victory was ever in your destiny! Prepare to meet your David, mortal!"

From this moment on, Greth'narq ignored all of my other teammates and started going straight for me!

I thought it was particularly nice that he should ignore the logical choice of trying to defeat us all and instead resort to a petty little feud with one specific target.

I hated this guy before, but now I really hated him.

I felt a slight amount of pity for him because his soul was filled with such unresolved anger, but I brushed it aside and concentrated on the task at hand.

As I fired my next shot at him, I witnessed his tank ascending the slope towards us!

Quickly, I backed away and just barely missed a shot that he fired at me!

Even though I was not especially religious, I thanked God that I was spared destruction.

Meanwhile, I heard my friends still pouring fire onto Greth'narq.

"What are you doing!?" he cried, "Stop interfering with my grand scheme! I shall have you and your unborn descendants castrated!"

By the sound of things, it seemed that my teammates were giving him a difficult time!

I didn't want to die before he did, though, so I backed off and sought cover behind another house, leaving a few anti-tank mines behind.

As I made it to the house and got ready to aim, I saw two of my teammates block off the path so that Greth'narq couldn't get through.

One of them was Mercier, a Frenchman driving an AMX-50/100, and the other guy was Scholz, who drove a Panther II.

I watched as Greth'narq emerged from behind the house where I was originally located and proceeded in my direction.

Aiming carefully, I fired at him and saw the mighty 152mm shell hit him.

Hell, I had to have been doing something with this.

After all, not even Tier Nine tanks were resistant to the blast effects of this round.

He detonated the land mines yet kept on driving, undaunted.

Though Mercier and Scholz's shots didn't seem to affect him much, Greth'narq was certainly obstructed by their tanks.

"How dare you obstruct my path!?" shouted Greth'narq. "I have only one human that I wish to interfere with, but I shall annihilate you too if you will not relocate yourselves!"

Mercier and Scholz held still, but only Scholz could fire as Mercier's autoloader took some time to reload.

Finally, Greth'narq just fired at the two tanks who were in his way, turning them into expensive piles of scrap metal.

I watched as he drove over their charred corpses with unusual ease, and then threw an anti-tank grenade at him.

"What sort of sorcery is this?!" he exclaimed. "How can you do this to my vehicle!? I shall have you vaporized for this!"

I got back into Goliath and headed back into cover.

Greth'narq blew up the house I was hiding behind, so I had to beat a hasty retreat.

While doing so, I had Goliath's turret facing backwards and deployed some more anti-tank mines while firing at him.

"WRETCHED HUMAN!" exclaimed Greth'narq, still taking fire. "Cease your silly games this instant!"

In his rage, he missed a couple more shots meant for me.

I drove in a sort of zig-zag pattern to throw off his aim.

Occasionally, I stopped to throw an anti-tank grenade at him.

He kept going, but I had a feeling that we were doing serious damage to him.

"WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!" he shouted. "How can you pathetic little parasites be prevailing!? This is not how it was dictated to be!"

Unfortunately, I was reaching a critical point.

None of my teammates would block Greth'narq's path for fear of ending up like Mercier or Scholz.

Sure, I did have anti-tank mines, but I was running low on these.

As I rounded a corner into the "valley of death", I ran out of mines, so I ducked into cover between some houses.

"REMAIN STILL, YOU VULGAR LOUSE!" shouted Greth'narq. "I am becoming weary from your trite tactics, and I lack the desire to allow any of you to continue living!"

As I witnessed that White Tiger rounding the corner again, I fired a shot at him again and backed away.

I left Goliath temporarily so I could go around the back of the house and throw an anti-tank grenade at Greth'narq.

Before he even had a chance to aim, I threw a second grenade at him.

"I shall never capitulate to you!" he exclaimed. "NEVER! I am the true one! Your planet shall fall under my dominion!"

I headed back to Goliath and tried to get to a new position.

However, in all his anger, Greth'narq must have gained a little power boost for his tank and had unexpectedly closed in on me.

"This is it, human!" said Greth'narq, his tank's cannon bearing down on me. "This is the end! Vengeance shall be mine!"

Knowing that I had nowhere to run or hide, I closed my eyes and prepared for the inevitable…

BOOM!

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	53. Epilogue

Greth'narq let out a hellish scream as his White Tiger was destroyed.

"Enemy vehicle knocked out!" exclaimed Thalberg, the one who fired the killing shot.

I opened my eyes.

I just couldn't believe it!

Sitting just a few meters away from Goliath, the white Porsche Tiger that was once Greth'narq's armored chariot was now a burning hulk.

This was it!

The self-proclaimed god and the Old Masters who attempted to carry out one of the largest schemes of world domination were all blown to pieces!

Knowing this, almost everyone started cheering.

The cheering was cut short, however, when they saw the wreckages of tanks that had once been their allies.

In particular, I was sad to see Tregubov go, but my hopes returned when somebody informed me of a tanker still alive.

Immediately, I climbed back up the hill to see the Mladshiy Leytenant still alive, but crawling on the ground.

"Comrade!" I cried. "Comrade, are you all right!? Somebody get a medic over here!"

"No," said Tregubov. "D-don't bother, comrade. My…mission…is complete. Yours…has just…b-begun…"

With that, he drew his final breath.

I started to cry, now knowing the pain of losing a dear comrade.

However, amidst this sadness, I was mystified by his last words.

What did he mean that my mission had just begun?

As far as I was concerned, Greth'narq's plan was foiled, so I was done with this crap, especially now that I've witnessed another horror of war.

As usual, we dealt with the bodies as per the requests of the deceased and cleaned up the blown-up tanks.

However, after a little negotiation, I convinced Yayax Squad to leave the White Tiger alone so that it would stand as a memorial to the fallen.

Speaking of that tank, I tore a chunk of metal from it as a souvenir, specifically, part of the turret with the logo.

This tank, like the other tanks of the Old Masters, had a pyramid with an eye at the top for its logo.

Weirdly enough, when I went to look at the inside of this tank, there were no bodies in it, not even any ashes of the dead!

Curious…

After the ceremonies, I had a few words for my comrades:

"Thalberg, I want to say I'm sorry."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Because, I've held contempt for you and a few other guys just because you were German." I replied. "However, I saw what you guys did in battle, and I must say, you Germans aren't so bad after all!"

"Hmmm…I can't say I approve, but I understand the feeling. I sort of felt the same way about Soviets when I joined this organization, but after a while, I got over it! Maybe there's something about the squad that makes men less hostile towards each other you know?

"Could be."

I then turned to Boyesen, Lambert and Deveraux:

"Major Boyesen, Captain Lambert, Captain Deveraux, I want to say thank you very much for discovering me!" I said. "I also want to thank you for saving my life and for rewarding me with new toys! Most importantly, I want to thank you for paying attention to the Warlord Greth'narq! Without your assistance and command abilities, none of us could ever have triumphed against him!"

"Hey, it was no problem, man!" said Lambert.

"You're very welcome, friend!" said Deveraux.

"Thank you too," said Boyesen. "You've helped this clan grow and you've helped to clean up this mess! Without you, neither of this would be possible!"

"It was no problem, comrade!" I replied.

I then turned to Starshiy Leytenant Polyanski:

"Oh, and Mila…" I said.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Thank you for listening!"

I gave her a hug, which she reciprocated despite my hardened steel armor.

"That was very kind of you!" she said. "Can I come along with you?"

"I'd love to have you come with me," I replied, "but I've got someone else waiting for me. I'll let you know if things turn out different, though!"

"OK, it was nice seeing you!"

"Bye!"

I turned around and started walking back to Goliath.

"Oh, and soldier…" added Boyesen.

"Yes?" I replied.

"We heard about the mischief you made at Live Oaks…" he began.

I froze.

At this point, I thought, "Oh crap, he's found me! What's going to happen now!?"

Boyesen then said: "…However, because your discoveries saved the world, we're willing to let that go. Just don't do anything like that again, you understand?"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's OK," I replied, "I'm all done with this tank business! You don't have to worry about it anymore!"

"Well, OK," he said. "I'm going to be a little sad to see you go, soldier. Everyone is. You've been a valuable asset to our organization, and we'll never forget that."

"Hey, if anything happens, I'll try to find you again!"

"OK. Good bye, and good luck to you!"

Boyesen and I saluted each other, I said bye to everyone and then drove off with Goliath.

* * *

I kept driving in a random direction until I got to a sandy beach.

At this beach, I shut off Goliath and parked it here.

I also removed my armor and left it by the tank, along with my other equipment.

I then hobbled along the beach, fatigued, wishing for a normal life.

After a while, I just sat down in the sand and started reflecting on everything that happened to me ever since I'd joined the Red Army.

I also reflected on the meaning of everything.

Suddenly, in my semi-hypnotic state, I was brought to my senses by a familiar face!

It was Mia!

She was alive!

She looked almost as beautiful as the day I first met her, too!

She asked me, "Are you all right? What happened to you?"

Elated, I jumped up and exclaimed, "MIA! I'm so glad to see you!"

I gave her a big hug, which confused her.

"I-I don't understand!" she said. "Do I know you?

"Mia, it's me!" I said, "Remember? The guy with Goliath? The guy who saved you at Redshire?"

Initially, Mia still seemed confused, but then, it hit her, and when it did, she was hit with the same level of surprise that I was.

"Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

We both stood there locked in embrace for what seemed like eternity.

"Mia, I'm sorry I left you!" I said. "I promise I'll never leave you again! Do you forgive me?"

"Oh, of course I do!" she replied. "Now that you're back, let's go exploring!"

"Why not? I'd love to go for a long walk with you!"

* * *

And so we did, exploring the European countryside.

A good chunk of it was still burnt out from the war, but it was otherwise peaceful.

While we were sitting down in a sunny meadow, Mia asked: "Do you think there will ever be world peace, my love?"

"It certainly is possible," I replied.

I did believe it was, but it would take some time.

It would probably take even more time, too, because a couple of fighter planes zoomed over our heads shortly afterwards.

I just shrugged it off.

"By the way, what is your name?" asked Mia.

"Aleksandr."

* * *

**And so, the saga of the Steel Soldier has come to its conclusion...for now. Thank you all for coming along on this unique journey to the World of Tanks! Until next time, gl hf!**

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


End file.
